Being a teenager is rough. High School is hard, It can be overwhelming, stressful and hard to process. However, we are strongly encouraged to make school our number one priority through thick and thin in the end of it.
Most students are involved in things after school such as sports or clubs. Even more students have jobs and or help with their families childcare. This makes it even harder to keep up with school.
Luckily, our school MHS has a built in half hour made for students to do nothing but school work, Muskie Time. Muskie Time is used for students who may be behind in work, need extra help in class, need to retake tests, or just a little time to relax during the day.
Teachers can request students to come to their classroom and students can request to go to a specific teachers room.
Many people have mixed opinions on Muskie Time, that it is useless, that it is the only reason students get their extra homework done. All opinions fall on either side of the spectrum and everywhere in between.
A teacher who has worked at MHS for many years, who has wished to stay anonymous, also thinks Muskie Time has pros and cons.
“As a teacher, Muskie Time can be used to help students who have missed assignments or tests to use school time instead of coming in before or after school to make up the work,” they said.
Because of the nature of Muskie Time and its flexibility, the way in which the time is spent is a little more dependent on what the student wants to get out of the time.
“Muskie Time is beneficial for students who actually engage in the time and use it wisely, but it is my feeling that most do not use it for school work,” they said
A survey that was emailed to all students at the beginning of the year finds that less than 3% of students who answered the survey belive Muskie Time to be "not beneficial." While 57.6% of students voted, “It is very beneficial to me, I use it constantly to work on my grades.”
A critique of Muskie Time is a waste of time for both students and teachers.
“Overall, it is just a mini break in the morning for students to refresh and teachers to catch up on some work. It seems to me that the time would be much better utilized if it were added to the back school day,” said The Anonymous Teacher.
The teacher also notes that even when teachers request students, not all show up to where they are supposed to be and taking advantage of this scheduled time to help with student success.
“I use muskie almost everyday. I find it to be one of the only times i'm really able to sit down and do my work,” said Maya Muniz, 11.
Many others along with Maya plan beforehand to use Muskie Time to catch up on work. At the same time, some students who are either in good standing academically already or truly have nothing better to do may find themselves being bored.
One idea to address some of the possible cons of Muskie Time is to think about where it takes placed during the day. A proposal is for Muskie Time could be more effective if placed at the end of the day.
With this method kids who didn't have anything to work on would be able to leave school early.
Muskie time can be super helpful for students who use it for it's intended purposes. Do you think Muskie Time is helpful? Are there changes to Muskie Time that you would want to make?
