by Sophia Waldridge

In middle school teachers will tell students that high school will be a lot harder and feel longer because of how much work is assigned; and they are not wrong. JHS students are starting to feel the pressure and are realizing how hard school really gets towards the end of the year. 

Freshman Mahalia Smith said the work is getting so hard that she is far behind. “Teachers assign so much work all at once with such a short amount of time to do it before the due date, and it causes students to panic and give up with getting work done; it’s too much.”

However, English teacher Eric Watson disagreed, saying, “Having many assignments all at once allows the students to practice essential skills like time management, multitasking, and prioritization; students should test their limits. It’s good for the mind.”

With personal experience I can agree with both sides of this argument, but I myself am stressed with the workload that the teachers have put on students the last couple of weeks left in school. I feel teachers should have meetings where they agree to do a week-long project in each class until the very last week of school; not all at once.

Another freshman, Calob Somoro, agreed with Watson. “All the assignments the teachers have assigned are easy. Most of them are just slideshow projects that take no longer than a day to complete.”

English co-teacher Michelle Houchin is one of the teachers that sees the situation from a student’s point of view, but since she is also a teacher like Watson, she thinks that a student should never give up on getting assignments done.

“I understand that students receive numerous projects and homework assignments daily. Knowing this and the fact that many students have after-school obligations, I do not assign big projects or any homework, and I communicate with my classes,” said Houchin.

In my honest opinion, I do not think that teachers assign too much work, but I do think that they make the work a little too hard sometimes and they expect students to get it done in less than a week. 

I struggle with keeping up with work a lot of the time, so I can truly relate to these students  and their concerns, but I also try my hardest and know that students should trust their teachers and remember that they’re not here to hurt us, but just to make us better and help us learn more for when we’re older.