Vote Against Calender B as a High School Student Who is in Extracurriculars Including Multiple Service Clubs and Speech and Debate

[ETHAN SINGELL]

Dear Ms. Specter, Mr. Jaurigue, Ms. Bernstein, Ms. Colgan, Ms. Wyman Acting Superintendent Guy, and Assistant Superintendent Payne,


Hello my name is Ethan Singell and I am a Junior at Los Alamos High School who is in a pretty good amount of extracurriculars and would like to suggest that we do not implement Calendar B. Although Calendar B could be helpful for those who cannot really afford or are restricted during summer, Calendar B would be such a drastic change and would restrict opportunities for students in the summer, decreasing ability.

Making such a drastic change so quickly in the schedule could have a major impact on how classes are taught and with little time to adapt, the effects could be detrimental, which would decrease the ability of students. SATs in New Mexico are often in the beginning and end of the school year. The addition of the in Calendar B 2 week fall break could change how people study for the test. Teachers would have to plan around this 2 week break and may have to change the order of teaching. Although these 2 weeks of break could be used to rest and study for the SATs, students on such a long break often may forget a lot of what they were learning and would have to get back into the “flow of things”. Such an interruption just may lead to students falling behind more rather than getting ahead. Another drastic change would be the comparatively small 3 day break for thanksgiving, in which during the holiday around 55 million people travel(AAA). Shortening the amount of break time given may end up raising our lower chronic absence rate of 23%(compared to the state’s 40% chronic absence rate).(Annual Absence Report) So many students missing class would mean that many could possibly fall behind when it could have possibly been avoided.

Additionally, many students use summer to work, take an internship, take classes, and ect., and taking away time from those opportunities, as Calendar B does, could lower academic performance due to the loss of important skills learned from these experiences. Around 1800 High School students and postgraduates intern at LANL per year and have to work around 40 hours per week.(Student Internships) Interning at LANL gives students valuable real life experience and skills such as how to work with others, time management, and ect. To get this experience a lot of time commitment is needed, which Calendar B restricts. Those who are worried for New Mexico’s poverty rate may argue that people cannot afford to do the internship, but Los Alamos County’s poverty rate is 5%(New Mexico Kids Count Data Book pp.21) and on top of that if accepted it is a paid internship, which would help those people support their families , somewhat counteracting that issue. Many people also use the summer to do service and other programs. Such as the Los Alamos Summer Concert Series starting May 26. People often commit time to such activities, which often improves social skills and preparedness for college, especially since colleges look for people who do extracurricular activities. So having more time in summer is better because it creates more future opportunities for students.

Ultimately, not voting for Calendar B and voting for either Calendar A or B would be the best course of action for most people because it is the most disruptive choice and could take away possible future opportunities for students. Taking away possible work and service opportunities would not only lower the county’s ability, but affect student’s futures.

Thank you for your time and consideration for my opinions and thoughts on what decision should be made regarding the calendar.

Sincerely,

Ethan Singell

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