Ryan Thomas ‘26 performs as Vector in the Despicable Me production put on by the Juniors at the winter pep rally. Through his performance as the iconic Despicable Me villain, he helped the Junior team take home the gold. They won a total of $500 for the best movie skit. “It was a lot of fun,” Thomas said, “it was good to be able to just mess around and have fun with it and have, like, a stand out role. In total, I think we maybe practiced like two hours in total.”
0 Comments
Brooke Harris ‘32 races down the court to shoot while Jase Rhodes ‘26 and Ryan Thomas ‘26 cheer enthusiastically. Harris had the entire school going wild after making a shot from 3-point range and was named MVP for the 5th grade girls’ Space Jam Tournament with Remi Lewis ‘27 coaching her. “[My favorite part was] probably when I made the 3-pointer,” Harris said. Braden Perkins ‘32 was MVP for the 5th grade boys’ Space Jam Tournament . He made the first and winning shot under his coach Antonio Mack ‘26. These two 5th grade MVPs may follow in Mack's footsteps, eventually becoming part of the 1000 point club.
Last meet of the season, seeded second, nervous, but ready, Jacob Johnson ‘25 is prepared to run the 500 meter race of his life. Not only has he worked hard for this all season, but he has been training for this since summer break, joining Cross Country for the first time in an effort to improve his fitness. Practice after practice, lap after lap, meet after meet, Johnson has worked for this moment. Now on the line, Johnson anxiously awaits the BANG of the gun signalling the simultaneous sprint off the line.
“That was crazy,” Josh Miao ‘25, teammate and friend to Johnson, said. “The entire meet and even leading up to it Jacob was like okay, there’s this guy from Blue Ridge I got to beat; he’s got the fastest time in the state,” Miao continued. “Blue Ridge actually, they were ahead of us for the first part of the meet, so it was really, really important [to have Jacob beat the Blue Ridge runner]. Just to see him go out there and give it his all, and pass [the Blue Ridge Runner] in the final 200m was just crazy. And it was a huge moment for the team and really helped us, you know, to capture that momentum to win the state championship.” “It was awesome,” fellow 500m athlete and friend, Thomas Frieben ‘27 said. “He really worked, really hard this season. He improved by probably eight seconds, which is really amazing and I’m just really happy for him.” Johnson ran a time of 1:12.36 in the 500 meter dash, just barely beating Jedrek Sneary of Eastern Mennonite School, who ran a time of 1:12.49. The Blue Ridge runner finished third. This performance made a huge contribution to the Boy’s Indoor Track team taking home the 2025 Division II Boys Indoor Track VISAA State Championship. Frieben, who trained and raced with Johnson throughout the season, came in fourth in the 500m, clocking in at 1:14.20. The athletes were able to compete at their best thanks to the help of the student volunteers who came to support and cheer on their classmates, the coaches preparing each athlete for their events, the parents cheering and calling out split times. Johnson was one of four athletes who won individual state championship titles that day. He also ran a speedy 39.93 seconds in the 300 meter dash placing him in 5th. Between his 1st place finish in the 500 meters and his 5th place finish in the 300 meters, he alone contributed a total 14 points for the team. Brooklyn YueHan Chen ‘26 took home her second Indoor Track State Championship title in the shot put, throwing a distance of 35-5.50 feet. “Be hard on myself but don’t let it get me down,” Chen said. In 2024 Chen threw a distance of 33-8.50 feet allowing her to take home her first championship. This year Chen returned to states with more experience and stronger than before, paving the way for yet another title. Kerrigan Chaney ‘25 took home two state championship titles in both the 1600 and 1000 meter distance runs. This should come as no surprise to any North Cross high schooler, as Chaney is well known for her spectacular endurance and the many individual championship titles and school records she has earned in Cross Country and in Indoor and Outdoor Track. Chaney won the title of Outstanding Runner of the meet for scoring the most points of any female runner in division II. “I was pretty tired that day,” Chaney admitted. “I felt really strong before, but really tired after my mile, and I had to push it really hard in my 1000m, but I was able to just barely make it. I didn't really focus too much on my wins because I was excited for the 4 by 4 (400 meter relay) and the boys winning States.” Other than the 1600m and the 1000m, Chaney competed in the 4 x 400 relay with teammates Ainsley Myles ‘27, Faith Johnson ‘28 and Gabrielle Miller ‘26. They came in fifth with a time of 4:37.50. Jase Rhodes ‘26 secured a state championship title in the high jump, as well as placing second in both the 300 meter dash and the triple jump, and third in the long jump. Rhodes will soon have a state ring for every finger as his recent win at States marked his 10th state championship. Rhodes also competed in the 4 x 200 meter relay with teammates Nate Bonds ‘25, Sander Frogner ‘25, and Chris Carter ‘25. They came in third with a time of 1:42. “It felt good [to win a 10th championship],” Rhodes said, “it felt like I accomplished something that I never thought I’d be able to accomplish before. And for it to come into play my last year running indoor track, it felt like a blessing towards me.” Rhodes is graduating in December and will not be participating in indoor track next year, but he has certainly accomplished a lot in his time running track so far. Rhodes was also named Outstanding Field Event Athlete of the meet for scoring the most points of any male field athlete in division II. “I felt very happy [to see Rhodes win],” Bonds said, “because I want to see all my friends succeed in life and what they did to help win the state championship means a lot to us.” Not only did the athletes winning state championships contribute to making it such a successful day, there were many other notable athletes who medaled and scored valuable points for the team. Faith Johnson ‘28 placed third in the 300 meter dash with a blazing time of 45.72. Lillian Phillips placed eighth in the 1000 meter as just an eighth grader. Spencer Britton ran the 1600 meter 4:31 seconds, finishing second and ran the 3200 meter in 10:4 seconds placing third. Nate Hayes ‘26 threw a distance of 45-2 feet placing second in the shot put and Frogner threw a distance of 42-7.5 feet placing third in the shot put. As a team, the boys scored a total of 113 points, placing themselves 13 points ahead of Trinity Christian School and 19 points ahead of Blue Ridge School. The girls’ team scored a total 50 points placing sixth, right behind Cape Henry Collegiate and Trinity Christian School. Coach Ed Dickenson won the Coach’s Award following the announcement of the championship. Whether the athletes scored their first or 10th state championship win, every win contributed to making it a very successful day. Throughout the history of North Cross School, there have been many dogs, who have been loved by many students. Founded in 1944, North Cross was originally located in Salem before the opening of the new North Cross campus on Colonial Avenue on September 13, 1961. The first North Cross dog belonged to Margaret (Billy) Northcross Ellis. Ellis is a founder of North Cross School. She taught the first grade in the founding years of this school and is such a legend here at NCS that both the Lower School (Ellis Hall) and the school itself is named in her honor.
Ellis’ dog was Suzette, a small blond cocker spaniel. “She was a sweet dog, and as you would expect [she] minded her manners, she was always happy to see us,” Anne Stevens said. Stevens started at North Cross in Kindergarten in 1954. “Suzette was there to greet me on my first day, so dogs were a part of our family/community for quite a long time,” Stevens said. “She had a bed in Mrs. Ellis's classroom, and would stay there most of the day except when we were on the playground,” Stevens continued, “We would stop in Mrs. Ellis's classroom each morning to say hello to her before heading to our classroom.” Not only did Ellis help establish North Cross, she established a 81-year long tradition of having dogs at this school. In the past, North Cross has been home to Dr. Proctor’s dog Ripken, who arrived at North Cross in 2011 when Dr. Proctor became the ninth headmaster of North Cross School. After Ripken died of old age, Raider, who is another one of Dr. Proctor’s dogs joined the North Cross community. Raider happens to be the father of the Lawerences’ dog, Debbie. Debbie is a Chocolate Lab and has been coming to school since she was a puppy. Currently, Debbie spends most of her days with Eric Lawrence in the administrative offices, but she visits Wendy Lawrence’s 4th grade class for Fun Fridays. Cathy Albright, an instructor at CrossWalk, brought her dog, Sadie, to school up until this past year. Today many other furry friends can be found roaming around campus including Betsy Cook’s dog, Pip, in the lower school. Pip is a Yellow Labrador Retriever who has been visiting the lower school daily since she was just eight weeks old. Toby, Victor Lamas’ dog can also be found in the Lower School. In the Upper School, Jackson, Amy Holley’s dog, Finley, Stephen Belderes’ dog, and one of the newest additions to North Cross, Moose, Sarah Cocowitch’s dog, all reside in Willis Hall. Founder’s Day was on Feb. 6 this year. It is a day to celebrate the many teachers, students, coaches, janitors, kitchen staff, administrators, parents, and all of the people who have worked hard to make North Cross the school it is today. However, the people are not the only ones who have left their mark here at North Cross. North Cross School’s many furry, tail-wagging, loving, smiling, and energetic friends have also made their mark and continue to make their mark on North Cross School’s legacy. For someone who has lived for just over 15 years, I can understand if some do not believe me when I say that I have made some big decisions in my life. Mostly, I have made decisions that have had a positive impact on my life. A couple of big ones were transferring to North Cross, signing up for cross country and going to New Zealand (okay maybe that one wasn’t entirely my choice). Nonetheless, the greatest decision I have made in my life was in the spring of 2019 when I picked out my beloved little puppy Nera.
Dogs have always been a huge part of my family. My mom had a dog growing up, my dad had dogs growing up, my cousins have dogs, my aunts and uncles have dogs and my brother, sister and I were all raised with dogs in the house. For my family, dogs are a fact of life. They are not just pets, they’re family. My family's current dog is a lively, very loving Aussiedoodle, who wants nothing more than to roam the beach with her doggy friends and to be showered with affection and love. Nera loves playing fetch and “tag” with my younger brother Braden, going on long walks and snuggling up next to me. Not only does my family provide a loving home for her, she makes our home a happier place. When I am upset, Nera will come and put her head in my lap or bark a little knowing that I need to play and have some fun. When the family is excited, Nera always joins in on the fun, joyfully barking and dancing with us. As soon as I come home from school, Nera greets me like I have been gone for 10 years. She lets me know that I am never alone, even when I’d like to be for a bit. She makes me feel loved every single day. I know that many families reap the benefits of having a dog. An article from Time magazine tells the impact dogs have on a person’s health, “Having a dog around can lead to lower levels of stress for both adults and kids. They’ve been found to decrease the risk of asthma in children and have been linked to lower blood pressure.” The magazine also quoted Andy Jones, a University of East Anglia professor saying in a press release that “We were amazed to find that dog walkers were on average more physically active and spent less time sitting on the coldest, wettest, and darkest days than non-dog owners were on long, sunny, and warm summer days,” project lead Andy Jones said in a press release. While I feel that dogs, compared to cats, provide a more significant bond between pet owners and their furry friends, it appears that both cats and dogs can improve a person’s happiness. An article from Metropolitan State University of Denver talked about the effect pets have on their owners. The article stated that “A recent survey that examined 1,000 pet owners and 1,000 people without pets got some pretty startling results. It found that people with furry friends tend to spend more time outdoors, exercise more often, feel more loved and just generally be happier than those without a dog or cat, often by significant margins.” Dogs offer a more loving and friendly atmosphere than most other animals. The Mayo Clinic explains that simply, “People with dogs know the benefits of pet ownership. The unconditional love, trust and loyalty shown by your canine companions, coupled with their unbridled enthusiasm on your return home each day, is hard to put into words.” Plus, why do you think North Cross has so many furry friends roaming the compass? It’s because we students love them just as much as they love us and having them around makes our school all that much more like a home. So what do the students at North Cross have to say about having our fun-loving furry friends on campus? “My old baseball coach, Coach Lawarence, had a dog,” Carter Reel ‘28 said, “and if I had a bad day, before practice the dog would like, her name’s Debbie, she would come up to me and we would play catch before practice and it would make my practice a lot better.” Not everyone is a dog person, but some of those people can’t help but love our furry friends at North Cross. “I don’t like dogs, but let me say something….,” Ameer Albishah ‘26 said, “I love the dogs at North Cross here, because… they are very interactive , they’re very nice, they’re very fluffy….they lighten up my mood and they’re very positive.” Many of us at NCS hold a special place in our hearts for each dog: “I think it’s fun[having dogs at North Cross],” Maddie Howes ‘27 said, “I love Moose, he’s my favorite.” Each of the dogs contribute to filling our school with love and brightening up the school day. “The dogs pretty much make it (school) better because well,” said Kaylie Johnson ‘26, “I’m personally a dog person so having a bunch of dogs here is really comforting.” At the end of the school day, all I can say is that whether you like cats or dogs, birds or bunnies, lizards or guinea pigs, pets are a special part of the North Cross family. On Nov. 12 during morning assembly, the upper school students had the privilege of having Dr. Shannon Farris, Assistant Professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, speak about what neuroscience is and what she and her team do at the research institute. Somewhere in the middle of her speech, I remember hearing her mention the importance of sleep and its connection to both learning and retaining information effectively. This got me thinking; would I do better in school if I slept more? As highschool students, we often face the dilemma of having too much to do and not enough hours in the day. Many students at North Cross participate in sports and other extracurricular activities on top of all their school work. Between going from school to sports or to extracurriculars and then home to do homework, scarf down a meal and take a shower, time can be scarce. This can lead to getting to bed at an ungodly hour, which will only make such a busy daily routine even more difficult for students to maintain. The article “Nightly Sleep is Key to Student Success” from Carnegie Mellon University talked about a study done at CMU which looked at the connection between sleep and academic performance among college students. The study found that the students on average “sleep 6.5 hours per night, but negative outcomes accumulate when students received less than six hours.” However, the article states that “sleep guidelines recommend teenagers get eight to10 hours of sleep every night.” The Center for Disease Control recommends that teenagers get eight to ten hours of sleep per night. Contrary to that information, the CDC states that a nation-wide study on high school students found that “about 7 out of 10 (72.7%) did not get enough sleep on school nights.” The CDC states that “children and adolescents who do not get enough sleep have a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, and problems with attention and behavior.” The Office of Neuroscience Research at Washington University in St. Louis published the article “More sleep leads to better grades and well-being.” The article notes that in a study by Tim Bono, PhD, lecturer in psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, found that, “students who get a good night’s sleep night in and night out earn higher marks and feel a stronger sense of well-being than those with fluctuating sleep schedules.” Another study he did found that “the students who reported the most stable, consistent sleep patterns earned a GPA of 3.66, on average, while the students with the most variable sleep earned a GPA of 3.21. Students with regular sleep patterns also reported higher levels of well-being. These effects held even when controlling for SAT scores and baseline happiness.” Dr. Farris shared her knowledge of the connection between sleep and performance through an email she sent me.“Sleep is required for our brains to function, although the exact reasons for this are not entirely clear. There are some recent studies in rodents that give us hints as to why sleep is important for central nervous system function. Firstly, during sleep (or when under anesthesia), the fluid flow in the brain and spinal cord increases, and it’s been proposed that this increase in flow cleans the cellular debris generated throughout the day from our brains. This is consistent with why brain disorders (anxiety, depression, dementia) can be caused or exacerbated by a lack of sleep (without sleep, junk and debris build up and make brain functioning more difficult). Secondly, a very recent study showed that the more synaptic plasticity that occurs (changes in the strength of synaptic connections that is the molecular basis of memory) the more delta oscillations are generated, which are low frequency waves that promote restful sleep. Thus, the more you learn, the more your brain is driven to sleep! So, I would argue that quality and length of sleep should correlate with learning performance. However, learning has to occur—so sleep alone will not make you smarter, but sleeping after learning certainly will. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 8-10 hours of sleep for every 24 hours for teenagers.” A possible solution to help students improve the amount of sleep they get could be by starting the school day off later. If the school day started at 8:30 or 8:45, perhaps students would do better in class having gotten more sleep. I was fortunate enough to spend a year in New Zealand and experience going to a school there. While there, I attended New Plymouth Girls’ High. It was very different, but a huge difference was that over there, school started at 8:40 am and ended at 3:20 pm. I not only got to sleep more, but I felt more energetic throughout the day. Perhaps if North Cross School followed a similar schedule, students would have better concentration and participation in class, on the sports fields, and in their extracurriculars throughout the day. I understand that transportation is something to consider when revising school start times. However, if parents or caregivers had to drop off students earlier in the day, the students would be able to complete their assignments in the time before school starts and catch up on sleep the night before, saving 30 minutes or so of work to do before class starts in the morning. A concern teachers might have due to the later start in the school day might be having to shorten classes. However, having experienced going to a school that started later, I can safely say that the 30 or so start time difference does not have a sizable impact on class at all. After all, it is a seven hour school day and I don’t think cutting out 1/14 of the school day is really going to affect the amount students learn a day. I honestly believe that a well rested student will learn more in a shorter amount of time then a tired one would learn in a longer amount of time. Finally, the question that may be pressing a critic’s mind; how do we know that students are using the extra time to sleep instead of scrolling the internet or goofing off. The answer; you don’t. It is up to students to be responsible and go to bed at a reasonable hour when possible. Perhaps a good idea would be to have students who have grades below the acceptable level to have to come to school earlier to study and complete late assignments until their grades go up. This way the students who are taking advantage of the later start will be able to get more sleep and those who are not will have extra time to get their work done. If changing school start times is not a possible solution, there are other ways for students to get their much-needed hours of sleep. For starters, if students get off the screen at the right time, they might go to bed earlier and even experience a better quality of sleep. The Sleep Foundation states that “Electronic back-lit devices like cell phones, tablets, readers, and computers emit short-wavelength enriched light, also known as blue light…. Blue light can also reduce the amount of time you spend in slow-wave and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, two stages of the sleep cycle that are vital for cognitive functioning.” Students could also try to increase their productivity while in the classroom so that they do not have to bring as much work home with them. However, this all comes back to the amount of sleep students get at night. If a student is not getting enough sleep at night it will be much harder to concentrate and be productive in class. This means students will end up having to take the work home and possibly lose sleep because of it, completing the detrimental circle of sleep deprivation. Whatever it is that a student does to improve their sleep routine, it is important to remember that sleep does not just affect whether or not a student comes to school with dark circles under their eyes, it affects their grades and overall well being. Thomas Greer ‘25, sporting his Bulldogs attire, waves and smiles at the crowd of students gathered in the auditorium celebrating Jersey Day. Meanwhile, Faith Johnson ‘28 and Debbie Taylor DEI and community service director pose to show off their fabulous Dallas Cowboys jerseys. In celebration of Homecoming Week, many students at faculty at NCS sported their jerseys on Wednesday. Students voted for the best dressed candidates in each grade. Johnson posed with Taylor for a picture shortly after winning the title of Best Dressed 9th Grader for her super stylish Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader outfit. “North Cross School takes spirit days very seriously,” SCA Advisor Susan Wenk said. North Cross School really does take spirit days seriously, almost everybody came into school sporting their favorite jersey. In fact, when asked on what day students dressed up the most, Ms. Dabney’s 9th grade World Literature class unanimously agreed that more students dressed up on Jersey Day than Decades or Duo Day. Students love dressing up for Spirit Week, and there is no doubt that NCS students do spirit days really well.
Maggie Bibby ‘26 attempts to corral her little brother, or for a day, her little backpack and get him to stand still while the judges vote for the best “backpacks” brought in on Anything-But-A-Backpack Day. Meanwhile, Julia Cepfus ‘28 buckles up her books in a pretty pink stroller. On Oct. 18, students got creative. They brought in all sorts of things including traffic cones, mop buckets, tires, shopping carts, strollers and even a baby, to use as make-shift backpacks. “It was fun because it was something new,” Bibby said. “We got to do something we haven’t done before, it was more interactive.” Anything-But-A-Backpack Day is definitely different from anything NCS has done in the past for spirit week. Thankfully, Allie Kier, interim director of the Upper school, allowed the students to enjoy this very unique spirit day. Perhaps next year a student will bring in a puppy as their “backpack,” after all, there’s already been babies for backpacks.
Little Sienna Naginey Ewing looks awfully fond of the cookie that her mom, Hannah Ewing, Upper School History teacher appears to be enjoying. Unfortunately for little Ewing, it’s a bit difficult to enjoy these tasty treats without a full set of teeth to chomp down with. Which is a shame because the Holidays Around the World table at Family Fun Night on Dec. 6 sure did have quite a few tantalising treats. Some of the desserts included Afghan biscuits, a New Zealand specialty, Ewing’s delightfully delicious mince pies from the UK, and the crowd pleaser, Izzy Snyder’s ‘26 and Anna Ciccozzi’s ‘26 Yule Log from France. The elder Ewing told me that her favorite part of the experience was “getting to know you guys (the students helping out with the table) more and seeing you all celebrate the parts of the world that you all have a connection with.”Anneliese Schlachter, Upper School Administrative Assistant, brought Emma ‘37 and Sadie ‘39 to Family Fun Night and said,“The kids loved it, I loved it. It was just so much fun.” Schlachter continued, “I loved the idea[of the treat table]and I loved the mince pies.” Don’t worry baby Ewing, considering how merrymaking Family Fun Night was, North Cross will probably be keeping it around for many years to come. Meaning everyone will get to enjoy some mouthwatering around-the-world treats in the future holiday seasons.
On Nov. 12 during morning assembly, the upper school students had the privilege of having Dr. Shannon Farris, Assistant Professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, speak about what neuroscience is and what she and her team do at the research institute. Somewhere in the middle of her speech, I remember hearing her mention the importance of sleep and its connection to both learning and retaining information effectively. This got me thinking; would I do better in school if I slept more? As highschool students, we often face the dilemma of having too much to do and not enough hours in the day. Many students at North Cross participate in sports and other extracurricular activities on top of all their school work. Between going from school to sports or to extracurriculars and then home to do homework, scarf down a meal and take a shower, time can be scarce. This can lead to getting to bed at an ungodly hour, which will only make such a busy daily routine even more difficult for students to maintain. The article “Nightly Sleep is Key to Student Success” from Carnegie Mellon University talked about a study done at CMU which looked at the connection between sleep and academic performance among college students. The study found that the students on average “sleep 6.5 hours per night, but negative outcomes accumulate when students received less than six hours.” However, the article states that “sleep guidelines recommend teenagers get eight to10 hours of sleep every night.” The Center for Disease Control recommends that teenagers get eight to ten hours of sleep per night. Contrary to that information, the CDC states that a nation-wide study on high school students found that “about 7 out of 10 (72.7%) did not get enough sleep on school nights.” The CDC states that “children and adolescents who do not get enough sleep have a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, and problems with attention and behavior.” The Office of Neuroscience Research at Washington University in St. Louis published the article “More sleep leads to better grades and well-being.” The article notes that in a study by Tim Bono, PhD, lecturer in psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, found that, “students who get a good night’s sleep night in and night out earn higher marks and feel a stronger sense of well-being than those with fluctuating sleep schedules.” Another study he did found that “the students who reported the most stable, consistent sleep patterns earned a GPA of 3.66, on average, while the students with the most variable sleep earned a GPA of 3.21. Students with regular sleep patterns also reported higher levels of well-being. These effects held even when controlling for SAT scores and baseline happiness.” Dr. Farris shared her knowledge of the connection between sleep and performance through an email she sent me.“Sleep is required for our brains to function, although the exact reasons for this are not entirely clear. There are some recent studies in rodents that give us hints as to why sleep is important for central nervous system function. Firstly, during sleep (or when under anesthesia), the fluid flow in the brain and spinal cord increases, and it’s been proposed that this increase in flow cleans the cellular debris generated throughout the day from our brains. This is consistent with why brain disorders (anxiety, depression, dementia) can be caused or exacerbated by a lack of sleep (without sleep, junk and debris build up and make brain functioning more difficult). Secondly, a very recent study showed that the more synaptic plasticity that occurs (changes in the strength of synaptic connections that is the molecular basis of memory) the more delta oscillations are generated, which are low frequency waves that promote restful sleep. Thus, the more you learn, the more your brain is driven to sleep! So, I would argue that quality and length of sleep should correlate with learning performance. However, learning has to occur—so sleep alone will not make you smarter, but sleeping after learning certainly will. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 8-10 hours of sleep for every 24 hours for teenagers.” A possible solution to help students improve the amount of sleep they get could be by starting the school day off later. If the school day started at 8:30 or 8:45, perhaps students would do better in class having gotten more sleep. I was fortunate enough to spend a year in New Zealand and experience going to a school there. While there, I attended New Plymouth Girls’ High. It was very different, but a huge difference was that over there, school started at 8:40 am and ended at 3:20 pm. I not only got to sleep more, but I felt more energetic throughout the day. Perhaps if North Cross School followed a similar schedule, students would have better concentration and participation in class, on the sports fields, and in their extracurriculars throughout the day. I understand that transportation is something to consider when revising school start times. However, if parents or caregivers had to drop off students earlier in the day, the students would be able to complete their assignments in the time before school starts and catch up on sleep the night before, saving 30 minutes or so of work to do before class starts in the morning. A concern teachers might have due to the later start in the school day might be having to shorten classes. However, having experienced going to a school that started later, I can safely say that the 30 or so start time difference does not have a sizable impact on class at all. After all, it is a seven hour school day and I don’t think cutting out 1/14 of the school day is really going to affect the amount students learn a day. I honestly believe that a well rested student will learn more in a shorter amount of time then a tired one would learn in a longer amount of time. Finally, the question that may be pressing a critic’s mind; how do we know that students are using the extra time to sleep instead of scrolling the internet or goofing off. The answer; you don’t. It is up to students to be responsible and go to bed at a reasonable hour when possible. Perhaps a good idea would be to have students who have grades below the acceptable level to have to come to school earlier to study and complete late assignments until their grades go up. This way the students who are taking advantage of the later start will be able to get more sleep and those who are not will have extra time to get their work done. If changing school start times is not a possible solution, there are other ways for students to get their much-needed hours of sleep. For starters, if students get off the screen at the right time, they might go to bed earlier and even experience a better quality of sleep. The Sleep Foundation states that “Electronic back-lit devices like cell phones, tablets, readers, and computers emit short-wavelength enriched light, also known as blue light…. Blue light can also reduce the amount of time you spend in slow-wave and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, two stages of the sleep cycle that are vital for cognitive functioning.” Students could also try to increase their productivity while in the classroom so that they do not have to bring as much work home with them. However, this all comes back to the amount of sleep students get at night. If a student is not getting enough sleep at night it will be much harder to concentrate and be productive in class. This means students will end up having to take the work home and possibly lose sleep because of it, completing the detrimental circle of sleep deprivation. Whatever it is that a student does to improve their sleep routine, it is important to remember that sleep does not just affect whether or not a student comes to school with dark circles under their eyes, it affects their grades and overall well being. |
Hi, I am KaitlynIt is my first year at North Cross. I really enjoy running Cross Country and playing with my dog Nera. I'm also into reading and I like to read The Reader's Digest. My dream places to travel are France and Japan. Archives
March 2025
Categories |