Half-day Fridays need a makeover

At first, half-day Fridays seemed fun, but as students got used to it, it has slowly become a little tedious. The activity options, what to do during the time with our parliament group, and being stuck with the same parliament group are part of the problem. 

The parliament groups served a good purpose during quarantine. They offered a virtual space for socializing and support in times of isolation and even some academic support. But now back in school, we go to an assigned room, hang out with another parliament group in said room, and wait and see what the school has in store for us.

Some of the activities are fun but the number of options and the different activities presented between middle school and high school is noticeably different. The activity options given to the middle school are much newer and more entertaining and the high school activities seem repetitive. I wish that we high schoolers could have fun equal to the middle schoolers. One way to solve this is by considering suggestions and input from high schoolers besides the given activities.

I also wonder about the activities that we do within our parliament group. The restorative circle seems to be an ongoing activity that has already fulfilled its objective, which is to get to know one another and keep small talk alive. We already have a familiarity with our peers. We should have the choice not to do the restorative circle and to be laid back and relax till dismissal or do an activity that makes us feel as if time is going fast. 

And, it’s nice to come in and be welcomed by a familiar group of peers, but at times, wouldn’t it be fun to change things around and spend time with other people we usually don’t get to see much? It will make our school community closer and we can have a chance to hang out with our other friends and peers but still stay within the classroom. 

Overall, I like having a half school day every third Friday of the month. I like going to my club, and hanging out with friends, and I like the newly included activities like painting and origami. 

But, as QSI is mostly represented as student-led and encourages students to take initiative, it would be great to have our ideas used on how to have a well-planned half-day. It would be cool “to switch things up” and see how it goes.