This Wednesday marked the first early release of the year, which  means students went to their third academic seminar of the year and the first that follows the standard schedule.  This new class will be taking place on half days, between 1st and 2nd period, replacing last years collaborative period.

The shift from collaborative to academic seminar has gotten mixed reviews.

“I think it’s a scheduled waste of time,”  says senior Macy Carlson.

Senior Grace Yaso sees it as an opportunity. “I get to connect with a new teacher that I haven’t had before.” 

Many students feel that the old collaborative time was a better use of the half day, “I wish it was a study hall.” comments senior Peyton Butler. While some students wish they could use the time to work on homework, other student’s miss being able to meet with their teachers, “It’s in a weird place, doesn’t work with my schedule, and with a teacher I’ve never even had,” laments Sadie Crystal.

However, there are some real benefits to having academic seminar. It is designed to give students and teachers a class period to give out important information and announcements without impeding on class time, that had been previously shared during the English classes taking away valuable learning time.