Summer break is officially only 2 months away, and I know those who have decided to take honors and AP classes next year are dreading doing the summer work.
Summer is supposed to be a break from anything school-related but instead, teenagers are hunched over summer homework that varies from math packets to required reading, rather than playing outside, hanging out with friends, curling up in a comfy chair with their favorite book, or even doing nothing.
The students of 2022 who graduated last year at Loveland High School had decided to leave one last mark and petition for a cancellation of all summer homework. This petition got over 10,000 signatures and was able to convince the school to have two representatives of the class of 2022 meet with Superintendent Mike Broadwater and discuss the petition.
The representatives of the class of 2022 had a strong case to make, stating, “COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the adolescents' minds, and making teenagers do more work was just damaging their mental health.” They also said that “Summer vacation was to get a break from school and all the academic learning, but by handing out summer assignments, what was the meaning of vacation if you were going to still do work?”
While it took some time and after thoroughly looking through all the positives and negatives of canceling summer work, Superintendent Mike Broadwater sent an email out to all parents on February 28th, stating, “Summer work has been stressing the students here at Loveland High School ever since COVID-19, endangering their mental health. Therefore, the staff members and I have decided to cancel all summer assignments starting this upcoming summer break.” He writes in his email that after going through the pros and cons, he was still hesitant, but there was one statement that the class of 2022 said that made him decide to cancel all summer homework. Broadwater wrote, “One thing the class of 2022 said that stood out to me the most was that summer is summer, and nine months out of the year, we get to tell them what to do, but we need to leave the other 3 to them.”
The Roar decided to ask a couple of students at Loveland High School about their opinions about the summer assignments being canceled. Ben Hicks (11), someone who has never done his summer homework, remarked, “I believe it is truly unfortunate that by canceling summer assignments we are failing to prepare students for the future.” A unique opinion indeed. Chase Gibson (11) has a different point of view regarding work over the summer, stating, “It is a relief for all students in high school; I am surprised they didn’t cancel summer assignments earlier.” There was one response that was really surprising Kate Krabacher (12) said she was “really upset about summer work being canceled because I love doing the work over the summer during my free time. It makes me feel alive, and it is really fun.”
A tremendous thanks to the class of 2022. Without them, we would be scrambling to finish our summer assignments at the last minute.
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