Should Centennial students be able to have an eagle block to help grades every two weeks? As a student here at Centennial Junior High, some students would  like to have a work period where we were able to work on homework or have free time to reward good grades. In other schools, homerooms would be used for this, but since now in our homerooms we don’t get the choice between reading and homework nor can we work on it because of Character Strong this is not an option. This ends up with students not wanting to do work at home but also students not being able to work on it at school. To be given a period where your main focus was to fix work or turn in missing grades would be extremely helpful. 

When interviewing some teachers who have been at this school for a long time, I have figured out things on how a new Eagle Block could work and what not want to do. Mrs. Stille, an 8th grade English teacher said, ”If more teachers were able to put in the work then I think it would have been really useful…the problem was that students that I needed were also the students another teacher would need.” 

Mr. Barkel, the Career Pathways teacher, had to say, “If we were able to get students to the right classrooms and know where students were going, [it would of been better]” 

The last teacher being interviewed was Mrs. Dillon, an 8th grade math teacher, “If teachers were not trying to teach different subjects it would have made a big difference.” 

These are all important crises when having a work block. When talking to a friend from California about this. She informed me about how her school had their work blocks. To sum it up, teachers would sign a piece of paper that the student had gotten everything done, and if everything was signed, then they were given free time. Children who were given free time would choose a certain place to be, and they weren’t allowed to leave that area. 

Students who didn’t have the signatures would go to the classroom they needed to do work in and work there. The period itself is shorter than a Centennial class block but it would work if that day we would have an assembly schedule. This is a preference for a work block, and it would keep children under control. 

A thing that should be changed about it though was if a student finished their work inside that work block, and needed to go to another teacher. All they needed to do was have that paper signed, and a hall pass to go to that teacher’s classroom. That way students weren’t just roaming the hallways. 

I believe having this every two weeks would help Centennial’s grade average increase as well as allow the kids who didn’t get work done be given a second chance to fix and work on schoolwork. Test scores would also have a big increase from students knowing the material. There would also be a decrease in students staying after school to get help on assignments/work. 

Another alternative would be to take away the failing students’ electives. Electives are a privilege and should be taken away if students are failing their main classes. Instead of being given an elective, they should be taken to the classroom they are failing and be able to get missing assignments completed. This could be a great change for students’ learning and Centennial’s average grades.