Donald Trump’s inauguration was on January 20th, 2017. Many students in our community don’t feel as though he will make America a safe place for them to live. A few peer leaders in our high school community wanted to do something to show that we want Highland to be a safe space for everyone. They went about showing support to other students by having a gathering during lunch, in which people could share their concerns, fears, hopes, and any feeling they may have during this time. Everyone wants our community here at Highland to be a safe space for all, and we are doing everything we can to make our students feel welcome.

We asked the leaders of the gathering what their overall goal was and what their plans were for the next meeting; here was their response, “We wanted something that would draw positive attention and help broadcast a sense of community. Basically we wanted to create a platform to continue more events that would be similar and encourage people to be more politically active.”

Based off of the turnout, it’s easy to say that the leaders were successful. Many of the students were able to discuss their worries free of judgment in a very respectful and inclusive environment.

Overall, the rally went on successfully, serving its original purpose of bringing a community together. The students of Highland hurt by President Trump’s election came together to voice their opinions and stories. Leaders of the rally, both staff and students, brought a positive outlook in a dark time for many. They are looking forward to having more gatherings for social injustices in the future.

Sleep deprivation. It’s a chronic health problem that’s affecting adolescents today, and to some, it all comes down to having to wake up as early as 5 a.m., just to get ready for school. Everyone knows school starts way too early and it’s been told time and time again that students need more sleep. Lately, school systems have been proposing to have high schools start at a later time, but here’s the catch: often times, this means that elementary school students have to start a lot earlier.

Research done by the National Sleep Foundation has shown time and time again that teens who start school at around 8:00 a.m. or earlier have a higher risk of not performing well in school, than those who start at around 9:00 a.m. If districts were to go forward with this change in start times, it would possibly mean a big change for elementary school students.

One of the biggest concerns parents and the districts have for their elementary students is time management and transportation. Some parents who have to work overnight, and don’t get home until 7:00 a.m., or get up in the early morning hours of the day to get to work, are concerned they won’t be able to supervise their child as they get ready, or be able to drive their child to school on time.

Most districts use the same busses to drop off their high school and elementary students, but if start time changes goes forward, it means the districts would probably have to hire more busses to take the younger children to school, otherwise, earlier school start times for elementary students would have to take effect.

If elementary schools were to start earlier, that means they would get out earlier than usual as well. As stated before, some parents have work during those hours so were would young students go during that time? After school activities would be an option for some, which could help out in the long run, but for the high school students, starting at a later time could lead to fewer or no after school activities.

It’s a debate to surely never end, but the biggest question here is really:

Is it worth it to have high school students start at a later time?

The Saint Paul Public School Board is considering changing the schedule layout for the 2017-2018 school year. The board thinks that by changing the number of periods we have each day, and/or changing to trimesters, we as a district can save a significant amount of money per year. Here are some of the options the school board is considering.

• Having a 5 period days over trimesters instead of semesters.
• Having a 6 period day with 55 minute periods in semesters
• Keeping a 7 period day with 47 minute periods in semesters
• Having an alternating block schedule, “A days & B days”, with 4 periods of 75 minutes each period, in semesters.

Switching over to trimesters could have some benefits but also some complications. Trimesters would allow students to take more classes each year than they would under a 6 period day with semesters. Students could join a support class without risking graduation credits. Some complications with trimesters include a harder schedule to create. Also, any schedule change of the student may have multiple complications as counselors would have to schedule students 3 times per year instead of 2. Trimesters also would allow students to transition more often per year, so that could be good or bad depending on the student.

I asked 3 students their opinions on the possible schedule changes and they all had something a little different to say. Cecilia Velazco, a Sophmore, said she would like A days and B days “because it would be different everyday. I wouldn’t get bored all the time.” David Ramirez, a Junior, thinks “Having only 4 period days would get to be boring. Teachers can barely keep student attention how it is now. I cant imagine staying engaged all 75 minutes.” Mayte Rodriguez disagrees, she says “Having 5 period days would be nice. It would allow more time for teachers to thoroughly explain material.  And it might make our homework load lighter”.

Despite your feelings about the schedule change posibilities, in the 2017-2018 school year, it looks like we won’t have a 7 period day with quarters.