The 2022-2023 Accolade editorial board unanimously agreed that next year’s bell schedule will benefit the multiple electives and student body of Sunny Hills.
To prevent student burnout, the three main electives at Sunny Hills all rested on the same period before lunch.
But with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signed legislation on Oct. 13, 2021, that stated high schools should start after 8:30 a.m. starting this fall, schools have been adjusting their schedules.
Expected to be in effect at Sunny Hills this upcoming fall, electives with designated periods, such as The Accolade, the Associated Student Body [ASB] and Helios, are considering a shift from fifth period to accommodate for the new bell schedule.
The new schedule not only starts school an hour later but also places lunch before break.
Because the ASB class, a fifth period elective, relies on lunch as an extended period to work, the new schedule for the 2022-2023 school year compelled it to make this shift to Period 3, which has been tentatively approved by administrators.
Additionally, our adviser, Tommy Li, has asked administrators if it’s possible to move the Advanced Journalism class from period five to four and the Journalism 1 class from period four to three.
The rationale for that proposal is that it would allow for students more time to read the school newspaper when it’s distributed before lunch (the Journalism 1 class usually is in charge of delivering the issues to each classroom).
Helios adviser Lindsay Safe told us that she is open to move her current fifth period yearbook class to fourth if that’s what’s best for her new and returning staffers.
As of now, we applaud ASB officials in asking to move the elective to before lunch time, and administration deserves praise for showing such support.
The ASB will be able to use this time to play longer videos on the jumbotron, such as for prom and homecoming theme reveals.
We also encourage returning students in the upcoming school year to stay on campus during lunch so they can show school spirit and participate in other ASB-related activities like quad games.
In addition, during sports rallies, student athletes can get more well-deserved attention from onlookers; the longer lunch will enable them to do more than snap a quick picture after having their accomplishments briefly mentioned.
Despite these benefits, the change in periods for these electives could tempt certain students or their parents to see if Lancers can participate in the ASB and yearbook or ASB and Accolade.
The ASB and media programs had previously grouped together in one period to purposely prevent students from committing to more than one elective and bulking up their college resume.
Nonetheless, our adviser has informed us that administrators have been alerted about such a possibility and are supportive in preventing students from stretching themselves too thin and possibly facing burnout.
If these students happen to be selected for vital positions for a program such as an editor-in-chief or the president, too many responsibilities will be dumped on the student, and the effort that would have been emphasized for one program would diminish.
If that were to be the case, the selection of someone participating in only one program will be beneficial to both programs and students.
But as the change is bound to occur in the next school year, The Accolade hopes these switches in class periods will encourage students to enjoy the benefits of this upcoming schedule.
And read our newspaper.
The Accolade editorial board is made up of the top editors and section editors on the new 2022-2023 staff with the guidance of adviser Tommy Li. If you have a question about the board’s decision or an issue for the board to discuss and write about, please send an email to [email protected].
