Roaming the halls, once a beloved pastime, is now a thing of the past.
The new Spartan time: either a good time for students, or a bad time. We can easily conclude the average student would say “bad” from the many objections that are heard around the school at any given time.
The introduction of the new Advisory policy is stirring up quite the commotion within the student body, along with the suddenly enforced door locking. The question is, do students have the right to be angry? We believe they do.
Spartan Time was introduced so students would have time during the day when they could do their homework, visit teachers and receive help for classes they were struggling in. It has been a staple in our schedule here at WS since 2009, and we have all grown accustomed to having time where we can decide to do what is best for ourselves, not what the school views is the best choice for us. Sadly, that is all changing this year.
Every year Spartan Time has been tweaked a bit. Stamps here, advisory there; it is always changing to what the School Board views is best for the students. This year the changes were a tad more drastic than the previous. The introduction of Advisory last year was all fine and dandy, but requiring us to go to Advisory every single Spartan Time just seems like a waste of time.
Having to walk back and forth across the school during a time that is promised to us as time to work on our homework or receive help only reduces the time we have to be productive. The whole system appears to be taking a step backwards, because now we have less time for working and more time  wasted on walking.
Two years ago we had a stamp system for Spartan Time, where the teacher we went to would stamp our planners, and then our sixth period teacher would check it and we would be accounted for. They realized that it was a bad system, and it was fixed the next year. Last year we had a stamp-free Spartan Time, and we didn’t waste time in either Spartan Time or sixth period doing frivolous things like stamp checking.
Even though they might’ve made the changes to try and prevent students from skipping, the truth is, the students who want to skip are going to skip, and the students who want work will work. Whatever changes the administration makes to try and prevent this only seems to cause problems for those who want to work. We feel the changes this year are preventing work from being done rather than providing a secure block of time in our schedule for productivity.
Everybody has an opinion, and everyone has a voice. If we want the schedule changed, then there needs to be action. Come up with suggestions for how the schedule could be improved, talk to your administrators or members of Student Government; there are so many options.
If you want change, then make your voice heard.