With the end of the year approaching, only one thing is on students’ minds: spring break blossoming and summer’s rising sun. Have you ever wondered why BHS has spring break at the end of March rather than the end of the third quarter? In a conversation with Beavercreek City Schools superintendent, Paul Otten, regarding the placement of spring break within the school calendar, he stated that “the school calendar is created in collaboration with the leadership of the Teachers’ Association and the District Administration. In the creation of the guidelines surrounding the calendar, it has been agreed upon that our spring break will always be the last full school week of March, and it will consist of a minimum of five consecutive weekdays. That agreement makes it easy for us to choose when the spring break will occur when creating the calendar.”
With this in mind, I spoke with 10 students and 5 teachers at BHS, and I asked them whether they would like spring break at the end of March, as we have it normally, or spring break at the end of the third quarter. The students were divided in half. First, Ava Carroll, a 10th grader, told me, “I think that spring break should happen at the end of the third quarter because I think it’s weird to start the third quarter and learn new things and then go on break.” Addison Smith, an 11th grader, and Maggie Malec, a 12th grader, shared similar sentiments to Anna Russ, an 11th grader, that “Spring break should be at the end of the third quarter.” M.J. Shaw, a 12th grader, argued, “Spring break at the end of the third quarter would make more sense than splitting up the 4th quarter.” Doris Kang, an 11th grader, mentioned, “I like how we have spring break now.” Maddalene Wolf, an 11th grader, said, “I want spring break to stay the same because it’s warmer and nicer outside.” Copper Massie, a 12th grader, remarked, “Spring break at the end of March is better.” Shamus Ohara, a 10th grader, and Tyler Jones, an 11th grader, also agree that Spring break is best “at the end of March.
Then, for the BHS teachers, I spoke with Mrs. Volmer, a chemistry teacher, who asserted, “I would rather have spring break at the end of the third quarter because the third quarter is a lot, and people need a good mental break.” Mrs. Riedenbach, the math teacher, discussed that she “would say that I like it being a little bit later. Realistically, I would want it to be the first week of April because my husband’s a teacher, and we would have the same spring break. I would keep it where it is because people who stay home have a higher chance of getting good weather. People who are traveling would have their plans cancelled if there was cold or bad weather, and flights couldn’t take off.” Mrs. Rudy, a science teacher, said, “I like where it’s at more because it provides a good break between winter and summer.” Mrs. Kovar, an English teacher, exclaimed, “ I like spring break at the end of March because there is a better chance that the weather is nicer and I can garden.” Lastly, Mr. Cusick, a government teacher, claimed, “I like spring break the last week of March because it is Reds opening day.” Overall, the students are more divided over this issue, but most of the teachers that I interviewed agree with where our spring break is currently at.
