MIA MARTINEZ
Dear Mr.Jaurigue, Mr.Payne, Ms.Wyman, Ms.Bernstein, Ms.Colgan, Ms.Guy, and Ms.Specter,
I am Mia Martinez, a perturbed student at Los Alamos High School regarding the new calendar schedule. Even though extending the breaks in the school year may help alleviate some stress that students experience from burnout, sticking to a more traditional calendar will still allow students to stay motivated throughout the school year.
Calendar A will maintain students' motivation to get through the school year. I find myself, and other students, counting down the days until summer vacation begins; the thought of making summer shorter makes me feel like I no longer have a reward to look forward to at the end of the year. Because Calendar A will maintain our nine week summer break, it will continue to keep high school students motivated. Throughout the school year, students will continue to stay motivated because they have a reward to work towards.
On the other hand, Calendar B will help relieve students' burnout. In the first semester of my junior year of highschool, I took classes that had me working on homework from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Calendar B would allow students to have more personal time, and more time to recuperate from school work. But, this may also encourage students to become less motivated to create a healthy relationship with managing time. Because the breaks are more frequent, it will allow students to fall behind on work due to the mentality that they will have more time over the break to complete the assignments. Students being able to look forward to something at the end of the school year topples the potential risk of students losing motivation, and gaining laziness.
Ultimately, you should vote for Calendar A. With the additional time from Calendar A, Los Alamos Public Schools should use that time for emotional/mental health days. These days can consist of students practicing outdoor exercises, calming coloring activities, or students can even take a poll on what they would like to do on those days. Without a reward, the summer, to look forward to, students may find themselves feeling trapped and useless.
I would like to thank you all for reading my opinion on this subject.
Sincerely,
Mia Martinez
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