By Justin Pechanec

Panther’s Tale

With the end of the school year just around the corner, students are gleefully preparing for vacations, camps and many other fun activities, but one thing that isn’t so positive is the “forgetting-of-everything-school-related.”

Once summer starts, many students immediately shut their school brains off for the entirety of summer, and the effects show when America’s students return to school.

This is why I am advocating for year-round school.

I can report from personal experience that at least the first three to four weeks of every single school year is spent reviewing from last year to remove cobwebs and get back into the swing of things, and I think it is a poor use of time and it could be easily remedied with year-round schooling.

The fact that 96 percent of schools in the U.S. still operate on the traditional schedule — according to https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/year-round-vs-traditional-schedule-public-schools — bothers me.

From my perspective, there are fewer pros than cons in the traditional system.

It seems silly that our country’s schools still operate on the same schedule they did over 100 years ago — the system was established in a time where many students were needed at home during the summer to help their families with their farms.

Let’s be real here: that applies to a minority of students now, so the main purpose for the schedule no longer applies to most of our society.

Also, the extended summer break causes a severe lapse in students’ education, thus resulting in too much time devoted to previously learned material during the early part of each school year. Remove that break and more time can be spent learning new material.

Another downside to the traditional schedule is that it doesn’t help prepare students for adult life.

Many full time jobs don’t have 2-3 month breaks. You’re expected to work year-round, so schools should stop getting students accustomed to having this long annual hiatus and help prepare them for adulthood — which is what education is all about.

One reason I’ve heard students advocate for the traditional schedule is so they can dedicate a lot more time in the summer to working at their jobs.

I love making two to three times more money in the summer. But as students, our main goal should be to learn, not to make money, and switching to the year-round schedule would help our education.

All things considered, year-round schooling isn’t perfect — not having the summer break  can limit students’ options for summer camps is one flaw — just as the traditional schedule isn’t perfect.

But in my opinion it is a much more effective system, and I believe making the switch would enhance this country’s education system.