Four-day week would reduce motivation

Published 9:17 am Monday, March 16, 2009

In regards to your article, “Glenville mulls four-day week,” I wonder how the school board, teachers, students and the community could handle that, especially in our economy.

I am currently a sophomore at Albert Lea High School, and I barely have enough time to think with all of my sports practices, work, homework, etc. So I’m wondering how Albert Lea would be able to manage having a school day that would last for 10 hours? That’s when most students go to sports practice, work or even home to do their pile of homework. How are we going to postpone all of this until the earliest being 6 o’clock? A lot of students need as many hours at work as they can get, so by making the school day last until 6 p.m. those students will have lost about three hours of money.

Also, I believe the rate of willingness and motivation would drop in most students in their last hour classes if they went until 6. Most students now get rowdy when the bell’s about to ring. They’re tired, bored, excited and maybe hungry. Who knows? But by increasing the hours in the schedule I think it is likely that the tiredness, boredom, excitement and growling stomachs, will definitely increase as the day drags on.

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One pro I see in this whole matter would be more choices and classes. Except that does add on to the stress and pressure of just picking the ones you have now.

So is a 10-hour day really necessary?

Kaila Beckner

Albert Lea