Student Opinions: Power block
By: Liz Perrotta and Hannah Malatzky
With the new school year came a big change in schedules. This year marks the addition of the power block, which has become fairly controversial at the Regional. Though some enjoy the mass free block others wish the system hadn’t changed, and that study was still intact. To investigate the matter further we took to the halls to ask students of their opinions of the new block.
One student we interviewed was Katelyn McCarthy. Katelyn is one of the students who is participating in F block choir, which was created this year after classes conflicted with the normal choir block. Katelyn had nothing but kind things to say about power block; “I like power block. It lets me do choir, which is something I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.” For some it seems that power block has given them the opportunity to take new classes, such as VHS courses and to challenged themselves further. For others it is simply a way to catch up with friends, do homework and study. Whatever you find yourself doing during power block one can’t deny that it is useful.
While the time can be useful if you choose to use it wisely it can also cause mass chaos. After talking to various students sitting around in the Cafe, we realized that while they loved the freedom that power block offers, many ended up getting distracted, since all of their friends are in one place. It seems that many of the new iPads are being used to play “Flappy Golf” instead of studying.
The upperclassman who do not have iPads seem to have an even worse problem: teachers are frequently unavailable. While all teachers have the block free, every student that has a question is going to their teachers during that block. There are often lines, and in some cases teachers have disappeared, because they can’t handle the volume of students they’re receiving. Rachael Holappa, a senior, stated that “power block becomes an issue right before I have a test. I try and go see my teachers but they are swamped with other students, and don’t have the time to help me individually”. Between history fair, science fair, more math questions, and labs, teachers seem to be busier than ever during power block. Even though every teacher has the block free, it doesn’t mean that they’re actually avaliable.
The new block has a lot of potential. If used properly by students it can be a productive time that can allow for more classes to be taken and group work to be done in school. Unfortunately it is not always used properly and at times students cannot have the attention they would like.
One student we interviewed was Katelyn McCarthy. Katelyn is one of the students who is participating in F block choir, which was created this year after classes conflicted with the normal choir block. Katelyn had nothing but kind things to say about power block; “I like power block. It lets me do choir, which is something I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.” For some it seems that power block has given them the opportunity to take new classes, such as VHS courses and to challenged themselves further. For others it is simply a way to catch up with friends, do homework and study. Whatever you find yourself doing during power block one can’t deny that it is useful.
While the time can be useful if you choose to use it wisely it can also cause mass chaos. After talking to various students sitting around in the Cafe, we realized that while they loved the freedom that power block offers, many ended up getting distracted, since all of their friends are in one place. It seems that many of the new iPads are being used to play “Flappy Golf” instead of studying.
The upperclassman who do not have iPads seem to have an even worse problem: teachers are frequently unavailable. While all teachers have the block free, every student that has a question is going to their teachers during that block. There are often lines, and in some cases teachers have disappeared, because they can’t handle the volume of students they’re receiving. Rachael Holappa, a senior, stated that “power block becomes an issue right before I have a test. I try and go see my teachers but they are swamped with other students, and don’t have the time to help me individually”. Between history fair, science fair, more math questions, and labs, teachers seem to be busier than ever during power block. Even though every teacher has the block free, it doesn’t mean that they’re actually avaliable.
The new block has a lot of potential. If used properly by students it can be a productive time that can allow for more classes to be taken and group work to be done in school. Unfortunately it is not always used properly and at times students cannot have the attention they would like.