Exploring the Benefits of Mindfulness in Education
By Hamidou Khemies and Malcolm Musgrove
The Auditorium, where 9th and 12th grades have town halls,
Do you like Town Halls, do you find them informative? According to the University of the Pacific, data indicates that students in California public high schools, as reported by 88.3% of the respondents, are interested or enthusiastic about school assemblies. According to the respondents, an average of four assemblies per year and one pep/sports rally per month were held. We asked students and staff at Carver how they felt about town halls, and if they are of significance to the school.
Ms. Olmedo, a counselor at Carver, speaks about the Importance of town halls.
”There's always important information that each class needs to share with the whole grade. I think that having them, you know, during advisory when students are kind of just filtering in taking their sweet time because they know that they don't have to be there for a little while.”
While Ms.Olmedo agrees with town halls, she says there is one flaw.
"Having them first thing in the morning is not the best, I think if we had advisory in the middle of the day like some other schools do, then we would make sure that everybody's here already right. And that would force students to come in on time.”
The Gym, where grades 10th and 11th report for their monthly town halls
Timothy, a 9th grader at Carver, says that town halls are a lost cause.
“Honestly, I feel that town halls are more of a waste of time.” Joyce said, “Whenever I sit through a town hall, they're talking about how to get grades, what happens when you don't get good grades, there are consequences. Yes, but, you know, I think that students should be able to recognize that there will be consequences if they don't do their work."
“I think, honestly, they're a waste of time because most of the time no one has any plan for them.” Kierston, an 11th grader says, “But after like the third month, it gets kind of repetitive, and as something big is happening, you don't know about it, or it gets talked about last second because of what day it is.”
Ean, a 12th Grader, says that town halls are significant.
“Town halls are useful because it provides the students an opportunity to hear about different things from different people. He also mentions Town halls giving students different ways to look at things. "It helps us get like an outlook of different perspectives.”
The Lunchroom, where the middle schoolers have their town halls.
Although the opinions on town halls and assemblies are mixed, there are some benefits, like giving important information that each class needs, deadlines for signups, and events that could benefit students. But on the other side, some students feel as if it is a waste of time that only repeats the same things said every month. So students stuck in their advisory have turned that extra time into a makeshift study hall period. The importance of town halls varies from person to person, due to multiple factors, like who is speaking, the personal preferences of each student, and the environment.