Souhegan Student Petitions for Extra Day of Academic Advisory

One high school student is seeking more academic time for her peers to get work done and communicate with teachers.

Freshman Kayla Roberts recently started a Change.org petition to add one more day of academic advisory at Souhegan High School. The petition states:

Students are very much overwhelmed with homework and studying for tests and quizzes. Originally we planned to have one day in advisory (Wednesday) for an academic day but I feel like this isn't enough. I feel like we should change academic advisory from one day to two days (Tuesday & Thursday) that way students will be able to get a lot more work done and if need be, talk to teachers.

There are only a few supporters right now, but Roberts is confident that this is something that would help her and other students manage their workload.

“I have talked to other kids about it, and after school activities make it hard for them to get to their assignments,” she said. “I love academic advisory and get a lot of work done there.”

Academic advisory at Souhegan is an organized study hall where students can complete assignments and speak with a teacher. Roberts want to add the extra block of time, and space them out to manage school workload.

“It is a support system and it helps students connect with teachers,” said Roberts.

This is not the only petition to be found on this online petition platform. Rhiannon King of Amherst has a petition with 35 supporters titled Souhegan High School: Athletes receive study hall instead of wellness period.

Athletes should receive a study hall during their wellness period and a wellness credit for their in season sport. The students would still be required to take health, so they would only get a study hall two trimesters out of the three. My group and I believe this is important because athletes often have late games or practices causing them to stay up later in order to finish their homework. Everyone needs a certain amount of sleep to function and when the students stay up too late, it causes them to perform poorly in their academics and sports. A study hall period would be beneficial because the athletes would have time to meet with teachers, raise their grades, finish homework, and allow them to catch up on any missed assignments. Many sports are time consuming and the students don't get the time they need with teachers before their games or practices, The study hall period would substitute for the wellness class and athletes would receive their full wellness credit required to graduate.

Another petition by August Darula with 15 supporters calls for the high school to have double blocks four days a week.

Double blocks allow students to have less homework, and there is more time in classes to fully absorb all of the information. With less homework comes less stress, and more time to do extracurricular activities or sports.