We're already halfway through the first semester of school, and this year has been a new and exciting beginning for many SAS students. Freshmen began their journey in a new environment, while seniors stressed through college applications as they prepare to say goodbye to the SAS community.
This year, two new activities were introduced by the council: exploratory sessions on Mondays and extended learning periods on Thursday.
Extended learning periods that are held every Thursday are opportunities for students to visit any of the teachers of the topics they are having trouble with. Mrs. Doleman added, “this is an opportunity for all grade levels and the whole SAS community to come together in a way it had not before.”
This new schedule sounds interesting, but is it effective or necessary? After a few weeks, I asked a few students whether they thoughts these periods were useful to them and if not, how they could be improved.
The majority of the students seem to be satisfied with Thursday’s extended learning period. Junior Cathy Xu said, “They give you an opportunity to talk to your teacher and finish the homework you didn’t understand or finish,’’ and two seniors added they “favor extended learning because it is a lot more useful."
Exploratory sessions on every Monday consist of every student being able to sign up for activities, such as fitness, reading, songwriting, or playing chess. Because students have to change their exploratory subjects after participating for three weeks, they are able explore and gain interest in diverse kinds of activities.
Exploratory, however, doesn't seem to be as popular. Most students accredited this discontent to how short the sessions are and the hassle of the first-come-first-serve sign-up, reminiscent of the China Alive sign-up process. Exploratory sessions are meant to bring our SAS community together and encourage students to be productive, but currently it is not regarded as a worthwhile period to many students yet.
Exploratory and Extended Learning are both great additions to involve our community in a way that clubs and sports do not. However, there are a few issues that occur while running these programs, and constant feedback and suggestions will be needed to create further improvement.
Sophie Mannion