Next year, the BCHS administration is considering implementing a resource period during the school day. This time would be intended for club meetings, AP reviews, studying, and doing homework in general. Regardless of its usefulness, many people might think that this period would take time that could be devoted to learning out of the day or that students will not be productive or get anything done. I believe that a resource period would be highly beneficial in many cases to a wide variety of students at BCHS.

At my previous high school, there was a resource period of sorts. Although it was formally known as “break,” this twenty minute period was actually highly useful if a student needed to ask a teacher a question or finish some homework. Most importantly, this time was for many of the school clubs’ meetings. It allowed many of the clubs to meet during the school day rather than schedule a time before or after school to meet. This was convenient for students who were often busy with jobs or other extracurricular activities.

From an AP perspective, a resource period would also be very beneficial because AP teachers could hold review sessions in preparation for testing in May. Many AP classes meet first and second term; by the time AP exams come around in the middle of May, many students need a refresher on the things they learned in September. Quite often teachers will hold review sessions after school or sometimes on weekends, again conflicting with club meetings and other activities. A resource period would be especially valuable in the second semester so students could attend these review sessions during the day without missing out on valuable information from the review or foregoing another extracurricular because of it.

A resource period would also help students who need to re-examine a language or a level of math before the next class starts.  Many students, myself included, will have a math or language class first semester for one year and then have the next level of the subject in the second semester of the following year. This lengthy break, especially when learning a language, can leave students with confusion come the first day of that second semester.  Therefore, if there was a resource period, students would be able to review with math or foreign language teachers during that break, saving precious class time that would have otherwise been devoted to review.

From prior experience at another high school as well as from my experiences here at BCHS, I can confidently say that a resource period would highly benefit students of all kinds.  Whether reviewing for an AP exam or taking part in a club meeting, students would be able to utilize their time at school and save needed time after school or in class.