By Ayah Hassan, Staff Writer
For the past few years, Hawk Time occurred every Wednesday. River Hill students were given the opportunity to spend 30 minutes a week the way they chose to. Students used this time to study with friends, meet up with teachers, play sports in the gym, and relieve stress before continuing their busy week. This year, however, students are required to stay in their second period classes unless they have a pass to meet with another teacher.
Students enjoyed Hawk Time for many reasons. However, now that the rules have changed, so have students’ opinions. “Hawk Time was a time for me to relax, talk to my teachers, and go over my lessons,” sophomore Kula Thompson shares. Junior Jizelle Williams adds, “Last year I used Hawk Time as an opportunity to talk to teachers and I don’t get as much of an opportunity to do that this year.”
River Hill Principal Mr. Motley explains the new rule and how the passes work: “When the bell rings at the end of second period, the default is everyone stays where they are, unless you’ve done your pre-planning and you’ve got your pass to go [where you choose to go].” Mr. Motley further elaborates, “It’s like a triplicate, so the teacher keeps one, you get one, and the receiving teacher keeps one. It tracks where my students are.”
River Hill students and teachers share their different opinions about this latest development. Junior Trishima Sharma shares a positive perspective to the new rule, describing, “It’s good to know where exactly the students are.”
Ms. Gingrich, a second period English teacher adds, “I think that it will be a good opportunity to get to know my second period students better, which will be kind of cool.”
“Well, it’s kind of a question of extremes,” media specialist Mr. Ahr shares. “We have on one hand, a lot of areas, including the Media Center, that have been out of control in the past, but at the same time, you don’t want to go too far in the other direction.”
“This year, most people’s buses have been getting to school just minutes before the bell rings.” Tenth grader Leilah Fokar addresses. “Most people don’t have enough time to get a pass to see their teachers or go to a different class during Hawk Time while still getting to class on time.”
Although many enjoyed the flexibility of last year’s Hawk Time, it seems that this year’s model may be more manageable. But at what cost? We will just have to wait and see.