Relaxed Power Hour

More open and free for students during this time

STORY BY PAIGE DUDLEY

So what’s the new scoop on power hour? If you are an upperclassman, many of you may remember when power hour used to be more restricted for students and we were required to be in a classroom during power hour and were only allowed to eat in the commons. Sitting on the benches in the main hallway during Power hour was almost unheard of – until now. So what has changed since then? 

Sophomore Marissa Bulleigh, likes to sit on the bench during power hour and considers it her “safe place.”

“I like that it’s more open and free,” Bulleigh said, “especially since the lunch room makes me feel really uncomfortable.” Bulleigh said. 

EHS Vice Principal, Mr. Zlatnik, also had a few things to say about power hour this year. 

“I felt that students have done really good with power hour so far and we just decided to give more freedom this year,”  Zlatnik said. 

“I think it had the potential to be really positive and help kids manage their time,” Zlatnik added. 

“People are just used to it and they know the expectations for power hour,” Zlatnik said. 

Haylee Moorman, Junior, also enjoys the extra flexibility this year. 

“I like having more freedom during power hour because it gives me more time to work on the things I love most like choir and gives me time to go visit the teachers I need to see,” Moorman said. She also describes power hour as having more “me time” and said that she really takes advantage of her extra time this year. 

Mr. Gish, EHS English teacher, also thinks that power hour is helpful so students can prioritize and get done what they need to. 

Reaghan Transmeier, Soph., is “all for the extra freedom” this year in power hour. “I think it’s really great, and honestly so nice, as long as people handle it correctly so it doesn’t get taken away from us,” Transmeier said. 

This year the administration shortened power hour by a couple minutes which is sometimes a “make it or break it” for students. 

“Sometimes I just don’t have enough time to get everything done,” Moorman said. “As I’m getting older, my schedule is getting fuller and power hour becoming shorter makes it harder for me to get everything done.” 

“A lot of other people and I have noticed that first part of power hour seems a lot shorter than it used to be,” Transmeier said, “It makes it difficult to be able to get through the lunch line, eat in our designated time frame, and still have time left to work on homework. Most of the time we are cutting into our homework time causing it to be hard to have enough time to work on things,”.

Another aspect of power hour that students have been quick to complain about is the Wednesday closed power hour days. Many may remember in previous years, there was only one closed power hour day a month unless additional days were needed for Career Cruising which is now known as “Xello”. This year, we have every Wednesday dedicated to IPS. Some students believe it is a waste of time and others believe it is in fact very helpful to their future.

“I think it is very beneficial to students,” Zlatnik said, “If we have too many IPS days, we are getting away from the original reason for power hour in the first place,” Zlatnik said. 

Mr. Gish thinks that the balance is just about right as it is.

“I think IPS is beneficial for the students who are gonna take it seriously and find some sort of benefit for themselves through it. If a student doesn’t take it seriously, they aren’t gonna find any benefit from it,” Gish said. 

Some students feel that closed power hour takes away from their time to get their work done and isn’t very helpful to students anyway.

“Unpopular opinion… but closed power hour really isn’t that bad and I honestly like it for when I need to catch up on work,” Transmeier said.  “Xello is definitely better than Career Cruising” she added.