Transition team considers Pony Time study block next fall
The school administration is considering a 45 minute flexible period in the middle of the day on Wednesdays during five day weeks. This is a decision the transition team will have to make for next year.
There is PLC Wednesday occurring now, which happens every Wednesday and is a 15 minute late start that allows teachers to have meetings with other staff members. The transition team is thinking about changing that to a 45 minute period gap in between periods three and four on Wednesdays during five day weeks. Students have stress and this gap will allow them to relieve some of it.
This open period of time will allow students to have time to catch up on homework and not have as much during school nights. It is considered a study time for the student, and a learning period for the incoming ninth and tenth graders. It will be 50 percent personalized planning and the other 50 percent flex time.
Counselor Sandra Weaver said, “Ninth and tenth graders will work on college and career planning activities with some time to get help from teachers. Juniors and seniors will also have some activities related to college and career planning but will have more flex time built into their pony time schedule.”
There will be five minute passing time during these Wednesdays which won’t be that hard considering that is what the Wednesdays look like now. On weeks that are not five days, there will be an early release on Wednesdays.
Junior Andria Hanson said, “I think that would be very beneficial because it would serve as a study hall for students to catch up on classes and get homework done being that students live a busy life, they don’t have time to do every single sheet of homework at home.”
There will also be four lunch periods instead of three next year. Currently, the lunch times are 30 minutes each. There will not be open campus next year, so leaving during pony time will not be allowed.
Senior Noah Jakupciak said, “I think it would just be a time that kids would sit on their phones and wouldn’t really get work done.”
This gap will benefit the students in many ways. Counselor Sandra Weaver added, “We often hear that students do not have enough time to meet with teachers and get extra help, so that will also be a part of pony time. Additionally it will be a time to develop strong relationships with staff and peers.”
Kayla Gjerde is a junior at Stillwater Area High School. She plays volleyball on the varsity team. She has two dogs and three siblings.
Valerie Silbernick • Feb 10, 2017 at 11:33 am
This article is very relevant and draws attention to something that not all students know about.
Jake Welshons • Feb 10, 2017 at 10:52 am
Well written and informative. Caught my attention with title and first paragraph.
Jesse Zelaya • Feb 10, 2017 at 10:30 am
I really like this article because it good job at explaining the issue and how it is being solved. The article demonstrates how the solution beneficial for both students and teachers. It gives the perspective of students, counselors and principals. Overall great job of getting multiple views of the issue.
Hannah Larson • Feb 10, 2017 at 6:16 am
This article has a lot of strong features to it. I think it’s great that the school is considering this and the quotes you used were very informative.
Mason Urban • Feb 10, 2017 at 12:50 am
This article was put together very well and gave a good amount of information on what exactly a
Wednesday schedule would look like if SAHS adopted this schedule. I also like how you interviewed a counselor as they would have a pretty good understanding of what the schedule would look like.
Hannah Boardman • Feb 9, 2017 at 7:56 pm
This is a great article! The quotes are very good, showing that you had good questions. You also had reliable sources. I likes that you included a perspective from a student who didn’t think that it would work.
Christian Anderson • Feb 9, 2017 at 4:48 pm
Solid article and quotes from the students. The article was informative and gave the basics for next year’s layout. Only thing I have to say other than that is when you wrote “There will be five minute passing time during these Wednesdays which won’t be that hard considering that is what the Wednesdays look like now,” it feels too long. Breaking it up like, “There will be five minute passing time during these Wednesdays,(<–comma) which won’t be that hard considering that is what the Wednesdays look like now," really makes it sound more natural than forced.
Kayla Gjerde • Feb 9, 2017 at 3:18 pm
This article was a good read. It had lots of interesting and exciting information that made me excited to see if theyre going to go through with this idea or not. It had a lot of strong quotes supporting the facts that made the article feel like all the information was accurate.
Lauren Gella • Feb 9, 2017 at 11:57 am
You chose a good headline which sums up the content of the article very well and many students, especially juniors and students of lower classes are drawn in. The article is very informative and has useful links.
Jake Caywood • Feb 9, 2017 at 10:19 am
This article is very well done beginning with the headline which drew me into learning more about what this “Pony Time” really is, I wanted to learn more and this article delivered everything I would want to know as a student. Also I like how you showed contrasting views with different students where some students think that Pony Time would be a beneficial study period but others think that it would be wasted time out of our schedule. Very well done.
Anna Koenning • Feb 9, 2017 at 8:11 am
This is an interesting story! Mrs. Weaver’s quotes added good information to the article, and the other source showed how students may view this potential flex period. The links were helpful to those looking for more information on the subject.
McKenna • Feb 8, 2017 at 8:28 pm
I agree with Emma that you made it informative, but also interesting. You did not just make it a bunch of facts, but included facts throughout, making it interesting! I also liked all the different perspectives not just what the students though, but also the counselors perspectives. Very well written article!!
Emma Salmi • Feb 7, 2017 at 12:59 pm
The article is very informative. I also like how there are quotes from both student’s and the counselor’s perspective. Both the facts and quotes are really strong. I also like how the quotes from the students showed the possible negative and positive effects of the flex time.
Allison Heintz • Feb 6, 2017 at 10:50 am
I like this article because you can see theres clearly two sides that everyone would have for this and the author includes both. I also really like the topic and think this would be beneficial and its nice too have this article to know some background information of it for people like me that were unaware of it.
Emmanuel Kamara • Feb 5, 2017 at 9:58 pm
I like how you got both the counselor’s point of view and a student’s. Your articles are always great keep on going.
Ashlyn Aarness • Feb 4, 2017 at 1:59 pm
Your story is really well written. Good amount of interviews that helped get different points of views. You showed both positive and negative sides. Ends with an overview recapping the story. Goof job
Hailey Buelow • Jan 22, 2017 at 7:18 pm
I think this was a very well written article because it had all the facts needed for it to be clear and informative. There weren’t any unanswered questions I had in my mind after reading it because the writer covered everything.
Maddy • Jan 18, 2017 at 7:51 pm
The article was really well written and you can tell that a lot of research went into the story. The writer knew what they were talking about and it shows.
Kaitlyn Launderville • Jan 18, 2017 at 7:42 pm
I liked how you supported the pros and the cons of the study hall period. I also thought it was really good how you laid out the article and kept it on track and informative.
Maya Aflakpi • Jan 18, 2017 at 12:33 pm
This article is very informative and well written. I didn’t know school was even considering having a study hall wednesdays. It was good at explaining the plans for it.
Quinn Kuslich • Jan 18, 2017 at 11:16 am
I really liked the composition on this article and it is a very interesting topic the support paragraphs are exceptional.
McKenzie Bohlig • Jan 18, 2017 at 10:55 am
Could have a stronger lead but this is a topic that is interesting to most students. Good explanation as to why a study hall could be beneficial to students. Strong closing quote.
Olivia Knox • Jan 18, 2017 at 8:13 am
This article is short but detailed and really speaks the students opinions.
Hope Haukom • Jan 17, 2017 at 11:37 pm
I like how you captured both sides of the argument and how you gathered a lot of information from multiple sources to form good strong facts.
Olivia • Jan 17, 2017 at 7:23 pm
Good understanding of schedule changes and how each grade will be impacted by them. The interview from the guidance counselor is very strong, more interviews from younger students might have been helpful but overall the story is great.
Mariah Marsnik • Jan 17, 2017 at 3:33 pm
This article has strong facts that represent good research. I think the lead is worded well because it gets right to the point. I like how informative the story is and I especially like that you included the that on weeks that are not five day weeks there would be an early release.
Thomas Johnson • Jan 13, 2017 at 1:55 pm
This was very well written in that it provides the positive aspects of the study hall and the negatives. In addition, there was great research that was done for this article.
Hunter Hippel • Jan 9, 2017 at 3:40 pm
I thought the details and explanation in this story was good but the last quote was inserted a little abruptly.
Ciana Fragnito • Jan 7, 2017 at 7:47 pm
This story was very well written. The three interviews gave a strong view of facts, an opinion that sides with the proposed Pony time as well as an opinion showing possible negative outcomes. Overall very well researched and put together.