What’s with All the Extra Work Right Before Winter Break?

As Needham High students get ready to rush out of school for winter break, teachers are scrambling to finish up units, assign wrap-up unit tests, and add what feels like a million more projects, all in the three weeks of school during December. Some teachers even began whole new units, piling up mountains of notes, worksheets, readings, and other various homework assignments on students’ workloads. However, at the same time, teachers are encouraging students to spend time with their families as we head into the holiday season.

Maybe their reasoning revolves around “more work now, less work over break,” but the stress and exhaustion that builds up in students’ lives as they toil to finish their holiday homework transforms winter vacation into a time of recovery, not celebration. When we asked students what they were looking forward to for break, all of them listed escaping school stress as one of their top reasons they are excited for the holiday recess. “I can’t wait to sleep and spend time with my family without having to worry about school work,” one student said. While it is normal to face school-related stress throughout the year, the weeks between Thanksgiving and December break are thought to be the most anxiety-inducing period of the year instead of the most celebratory. The multitudes of homework teachers assign get completed in a shuttered room while families decorate their Christmas trees or light their Hanukkah candles downstairs. In fact, Hanukkah started on Sunday the 14th, the weekend right before the last week of school before break. Unlike students celebrating Christmas, they don’t have a break to spend time with their family during the holiday, and oftentimes, they wind up hurriedly lighting the menorah before rushing back to homework since many teachers are not conscious of all of the celebrations that their extra workload impedes on.

School is important, but family is important too. Teachers like to tell us they know this. So many of our teachers have highlighted the importance of making time for loved ones over break while simultaneously leaving us no room for this time. If we’re scrambling to finish two units plus a midterm all within the span of a couple weeks, when are we supposed to be with our families any more than on the drive home from school and when we say goodnight? High school hustle culture manages to turn the impending holiday season into yet another burden on students: we’re juggling tests, homework, extracurriculars, and now the expectation to spend time with family emphasized by the same school that doesn’t leave us a lot of time to do so.

While teachers may feel they need to cram in units before the end of break to avoid starting vacation in the middle of a topic, this approach is not necessarily effective in regards to what students are actually learning. If we’re getting boatloads of work from five different classes, all for the purpose of finishing before break, we have to sacrifice time and effort that goes into each class in order to make up for all of the extra assignments. Instead of spending an hour one night studying for a math test, we study for three tests within the same window of time, and it shows. The excess of work piled on students’ plates during holiday season makes it seem as though their education is focused more on efficiency than understanding a concept. While it is important to cover all the necessary information in the school year, the pace right before winter break does not necessarily need to be sped up; if the pacing of the entire year (instead of just one segment) is readjusted, it could prevent students from experiencing this overload of work all at once. 

But our lengthy holiday vacation makes up for all the pre-break work, right? Well, mostly, yes. Nobody at Needham High School takes a gap in homework for granted; everyone is eagerly awaiting all two weeks of our break. Well, almost two weeks; Needham students still have to come into school on the 22nd and 23rd, while most other towns are letting their students out on the 19th. What about the work due right after break, though? “Long-term” assignments posted the Thursday before and due the Tuesday back often take more than a couple nights to finish. And there’s always a couple teachers who, whether or not it’s technically allowed, assign homework due the first day back. Why do so many teachers acknowledge the need for break yet still try to add even more work during our weeks off?

Hang in there Needham High students! Break is fast approaching, and even if the workload seems overwhelming right now, you can push through!