My name is Sam Pesiri, I am an active student leader within the high school, but more specifically, I am Topper Man (the school’s spirit director). I align myself heavily with the spirit and overall moral of the student body, and have first hand experience in seeing both of these values in day to day practice and not just in the students, but in that of the teacher within LAHS.. This is why I believe despite calendar options A and B both having benefits for certain groups of the student body, Calendar C is the best option since it improves staff and student relations, and fosters the most sense of spirit within the LAHS community
One major component of student-teacher relations is mutual respect that comes when both parties do their part. The results of the YRRS Survey indicates that 42.7% of students say that there is an adult they can go to within the school” While this number does not particularly seem low this still leaves 57.3% of students who cannot confidently say that they have a trusting adult! This high level of students who don't feel they can go to an adult is a direct indication of the disconnect between the adults and children and the school. This disconnect is fueled by a lack of planning and preparation on both of the students and teachers' part. Schedule C grants the most teacher and staff planning days and student independent work days. This increased amount of preparation would entail even more collaboration between both teachers and students alike, and when both groups feel prepared, more focus can be put on the learning environment and the teacher-student relations which would hopefully boost the percent of students who trust teachers, but also just improve the overall community feeling. Still, Certain students, especially those participating in NMAA activities, may advocate for a schedule more reminiscent of the A schedule. Even though this may benefit a small group of students slightly, the pure addition of school days and a less focus on teacher days and spread out breaks, will do greater harm to the student and teacher mental health than it will benefit, since any proposition of adding the days in a concentrated manner would contribute even more to burnout.
Students are more likely to participate in spirit and school wide events when their time in school has breaks. As Topper Man I host all of the school pep rallies as well as lead a majority of the student sections at sporting events throughout the year. What I noticed is that burnout is not just something that takes effect on the academic side of things in students' lives, but also what they participate in. Around the time of breaks or coming back from them I can see that students are much more likely to show up to sporting events and participate in school spirit, this is because breaks from a constant environment not only allow students to replenish their mentality but also their energy which better increases their spirit, and in turn creates a better community. Calendar C allows for more of these regulated breaks throughout the year, this addition of breaks will have the same effects as and lift the energy to what it is currently around Winter and Spring Break. Teachers may claim the increased breaks may hinder students' productivity since more time off means more information forgotten during off time, but this is far from the truth- students re-calibrating their mentality at more consistent intervals will actually better increase focus and limit the previously aforementioned burnout. The greatest factor for burnout is daunting long stretches of direct education exposure, so the best solution would be to put a schedule in place where times for calibration are more prevalent.
The community of LAHS is the most important factor to take into account regarding the selection of the New Schedule. As Topperman I believe that the central pillar to community is the spirit and energy. I urge the members of the school board to choose Schedule C since it will have the most beneficial effects regarding these aspects. The positive change doesn't have to stop there-House Bill 130 requires more days to be added, but we as the LAHS community can utilize these days to work on mental health and energy! Failure to adopt the most beneficial calendar and utilize the days to their fullest potential would not only increase the burnout across the entirety of the student body, but also tear down the pillars central to our community as a whole.
I greatly appreciate the opportunity to reach out to all of you, and hope that you will take my words into consideration.
All my best,
Samuel Pesiri by day (Topperman also by day)