Central Speaks
graphic: J. Doerr
by: OLIVIA HALE staff writer
High school can be tough. Between school, sports, clubs, social life, family responsibilities, work, and other obligations, it’s a stressful life, and sometimes there are little things that can get under our skin or brighten our day. Central Speaks is a forum for students to share their thoughts about the ups and downs of the “Central” Life. Here’s what students like you had to say.
Central is a wonderful high school with great academics and extracurricular opportunities, but one of its major shortcomings is shared by many schools in the area: its schedule. School begins on the first Tuesday after Labor Day in September, and ends around the second week of June. Due to this calendar, students are forced to take their winter break at the end of December, return to school for one week and then take exams. They’re expected to take two weeks off and return with all the semester’s material still fresh in their mind, yet somehow also use the break to relax and refresh. However, the looming exam deadline forces teachers to pile loads of homework on their students to complete over the “vacation.” If the school year began at the end of August and ended at the end of May, students would be able to take their exams before going on winter break and enjoy a true work-free vacation. -Brynna Wesley ‘20
I think it’s really dumb that students are not allowed to sit in their cars at lunch. Some upperclassmen don’t want to leave campus, but also don’t want to sit in the cafeteria for lunch. People who want to sit in CPL and eat their lunch should be allowed to because it’s their own car. Everyone else just goes and sits in a park for lunch in their cars. Isn’t it better if they’re on campus?? -Sylvie Shane ‘20
26 // BGQ // April 2020
Paying $25 for a parking pass seems a bit much. If all that money is being used for something productive then that is one thing but I think a sticker on your car that says you can park in the parking lot of your own public school that you are required by law to attend everyday should be at most $10. Or if they are going to charge that much, people should at least be able to sit in their cars during lunch to use the parking lot they’re spending that much to park in and it should probably be adequately plowed in the winter so it’s safe. -Siiri Asiala ‘20
Academic Awards and Honor Roll have a negative impact on students. Students who are motivated to do well in school will do so, but there is no need to push down other students who aren’t succeeding in high school academics. The way that the education system is built is only built for one type of learning process. This pushes all of the different learning processes that students have into one narrow box that they are expected to succeed in. It could be argued that with enough effort anyone could succeed in boundless amounts of homework and standardized testing, but should it really have to come to that? Students who excel in academics will be awarded by getting into good colleges and self success. Adding the honor roll creates a discriminatory and elitist society in the student body that is toxic for those who don’t make the honor roll. Students who don’t make honor roll question their academic merit. If honor roll is a student’s motivation to do well in school, that is a problem. Motivation to succeed should be an internal drive. Putting students neck to neck against each other creates nothing but toxicity between students. Enough pressure is put on us in high school, is it really necessary to rank students? -Grace Bartley-Schroeder ‘20
If you would like to submit your thoughts for the next issue, send your message to bgq@tcapsstudent.net!
