The (Un)welcomed Arrival of Option II

To combat student stress, along with no-homework weekends and visits from a psychologist, the school has implemented a new program called Option II. It is only open to juniors, to the seniors’ dismay, and essentially it is a program in which all student-athletes get a study hall instead of gym during their sports season. Instead, they must complete a daily log of what they do at their practices and games and at the end of the quarter write a summary of their experience. Many students, myself included, are thrilled to have the opportunity to get a study hall and relax. Others are not as welcoming of this new program. Seniors, for instance, wanted to partake in the program on top of their other study hall but were disappointed when they found it Option II was only for juniors. Some unfortunate juniors that had health first marking period were not able to take the free period during gym. One of these juniors said, “I was very frustrated when I found out that I couldn’t participate in Option II, not because I wasn’t being allowed to participate because of scheduling conflicts, but mainly because I was informed at the very last minute with no prior notice.” So far, however, Option II has been widely successful with the juniors who are using it to complete their homework diligently to reduce after-school homework and studying.