Before COVID hit, we had a study hall period here at West Springfield High School. I had the opportunity to interview some of my classmates. I asked them five questions. “How would you feel about bringing the study hall back to West Springfield High School?”, “ What benefits do you think bringing back the study hall period will do for students at WSHS?”, and “When do you think we should have the study hall period?” “Should it be optional for students?” “Should it be an elective?” The first student I interviewed was Ben Pirnie. Ben is a Junior here at West Springfield High School and is part of the WSHS JV football team. He stated that bringing back the study hall period would be a good idea because it would give kids enough time to do their work. Ben then mentioned that it would benefit the students by giving them more time to study and do their homework. He claimed, “It would give students more time to study for their classes and do their homework, so they don’t have to stay up later to study and do their homework.” 

Next, I interviewed Mackenzie Reed. Mackenzie is also a Junior here at West Springfield High School. She is a part of the indoor track team during the winter, the lacrosse team during the spring, soccer during the fall, the students government class of 2025, and the Irish club. She would greatly appreciate bringing the study hall back to WSHS. “I would much appreciate it.” She said she would find the study hall period very helpful, it would help her to actually get her homework done and it would also give her more time for the things that she does outside of school like hang out with her friends and family and watch TV. She reveals, “More…like I’d actually get my homework done and it will give me more time for my personal life and the things I do outside of school.” I then asked her when we should have the study hall period?, and she responded, “Like halfway through the day so like 5th period.” In my opinion, I feel students should be able to pick when they should have the study hall period and whether they want to have a study hall period or not. When thinking about this question I mainly thought about seniors at the time because I know that some Seniors have early release, so I thought they should be able to choose if they want to have a study hall period in their schedule or not since they do leave early. 

 Next, I interviewed Amelia Smith. Amelia is a Senior here at West Springfield High School. Amelia thought bringing back the study hall period would be beneficial to students. “I think we should bring it back and it would be beneficial to students because we cram so many classes into our schedule and we never have time to do homework and I think it will be very helpful.”A Benefit she listed about bringing the study hall back is she thinks it would let students get their work done. An extra period will allow students to get more work completed and turned in, “I think it will let us get work done, teachers can assign a lot of homework and not a lot of time to do it and kids get in trouble for it. It’s complicated to keep up with school work if they play sports, have a job, or are in clubs after school. An extra period will give them time to do it.”

 I next spoke to Ethan Vo. Ethan is a Sophomore at WSHS and a teammate on the WSHS varsity football team. He thought bringing back the study hall period would be a good idea as well, to help students who are not very efficient or understand a class as well as they could be. He responded, “ “I think it’s a good idea, to help people who are not fully comprehending their subject.” The benefits that he thought the study hall period would bring to students is it would improve students’ grades and attendance. He replied, “I think it would improve our grades, our attendance, people wanting to come to school more ’cause they’re doing good at least.” He also thought it should be optional for students or happen in the middle of the school day. He answered, “I think it should be optional, happen in the middle of the school day like 5th period would be a good time.” 

Next, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Visconti. Ryan is a Freshman here at WSHS and a member of the JV football team. He told me that he would feel good about bringing back the study hall period. “I’d feel good about it.” “I can get all of my homework done in school.” As to Ryan, the benefit of the study hall period would help him get all of his homework done. He thought the study hall period should be after lunch and it should be optional for students if they want it. “After lunch.” “Do you think it should be optional for students?” “Yes.” 

Overall, I feel the study hall period would be very beneficial for students here at WSHS. As a student-athlete, my schedule is really busy between practice, cheering at games, coaching, doing homework, and doing other activities with my friends and family. I feel the study hall period would help me finish my homework and study for classes before I go home, so I have some free time for myself when I go home. Honestly, I thought the study hall period should be optional for students, like an elective. I know that some Seniors have early release, so I thought if we had the option to choose if we wanted the study hall period or not, Seniors could choose if they wanted to add an extra period to their schedule to get their work done before they go home or just go home and complete it.