Honors and AP students should be prioritized

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Cassidy Klock

Working hard Junior Alyssa Zeigler works on her homework in her study hall. Zeigler’s adviser is Jenn Lowe.

Cassidy Klock, Associate Editor
December 8, 2021

During the current school year, some honors and AP students have struggled with being denied study halls due to lack of seating in the classrooms. 

“As a student who takes AP and honors classes, I find it very frustrating not having a study hall. I am a cheerleader, and I also swim so I am constantly at practices and typically get home no earlier than seven at night. I do not like that there are people with less of a workload than I do and have a study hall. I have gone to my counselor several times trying to get one but have been denied due to lack of space. My friends who have study halls are always telling me stories about seeing other students not using their time wisely and playing games the entire period. I believe that if you are scheduled with a study hall, you should be required to use it wisely, or you will be taken out of the period to make room for someone else,” junior Kaylynn Manley said. 

“It’s very frustrating when I’m in two AP classes on top of having a job and still can’t get a study hall. Students with an AP should be prioritized over students who are not,” junior Mason McManus. 

With the workload that honors and AP students face on a daily basis, compared to the workload placed on academic or core students, honors and AP students have a significantly higher workload, with homework sometimes lasting eight hours, from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., or even longer. 

Though it is a choice made by the student to take honors or AP courses, the pressure these students feel to take on these classes is unparalleled. Junior Paris Lawson, an honors and AP student, reports that she feels unsupported through her academic career. 

“There’s a lot of weight placed on the idea of the advanced classes themselves, let alone what the content in them is,” Lawson said. “I don’t think it’s a problem with students, it seems to be more with the placement. If everyone, even our teachers and other advisers, are going to place such a value on these kinds of classes, then there shouldn’t be this absence of support or focus after you get into the classes.”

On a survey done on AP and honors students, eight out of 10 students who have a study hall this year have reported seeing students not using their study hall time wisely. One of the most common things these students have encountered is watching students play games on their Chromebooks.

“Every single day in my study hall when I look around I see at least one student not using their study hall time wisely,” junior Alyssa Zeigler said. 

In a Mountain Echo survey of 200 students, academic levels ranging from AP through core, 76% agree with the statement that AP and honors students should be the first pick for study halls.

Junior Kylie Focht, an academic student, strongly disagrees with the statement that honors and AP students should be prioritized to be the first to get a study hall. 

“Though I do understand the argument, I have to disagree. I believe that all students should be eligible for study hall, if they use their time wisely. Everyone is going to have homework in high school, and we should all have time to get some homework done before the final bell,” Fotch said. 

I would like to personally conclude by saying that I do not believe that academic and core students should be denied study halls entirely; their academic career is just as important as any other students. I will say though that I feel honors and AP students should be prioritized when it comes to assigning study hall periods due to the more intense workload. 

When I was first recommended for honors when I was entering tenth grade, I felt as if I almost could not say no to the offer. I felt like I was almost obligated to take these courses because my grades were higher than some of my other classmates. Now that I have been taking honors and AP classes for a few years, I am used to the amount of homework I am presented with each night. However, I was lucky enough to be granted a study hall. Without my study hall, I would absolutely not be able to achieve the grades I am currently achieving.