Friend Blessed or Academically Stressed?

How do SLHS students spend their time during off-hours?

For the past 33 years, Standley Lake High School has educated a mass amount of students that have come and gone through the salmon-pink hallways. Students that attend SLHS are supplied with at least one off-hour, this time can be used to work on homework, talk to friends and even relax. Standley Lake typically has an open campus, but due to COVID-19 restrictions last year, the campus was closed. Since sophomores didn't have the opportunity to experience normal off hours last year, there are two classes learning and exploring how off-hours are used and how to take advantage of them.

The liberty of having an off-hour and open campus can be used in a variety of ways, such as going out to eat or doing homework. Since Standley Lake has returned to a normal schedule, this year’s students seem to be taking advantage of their ability to leave campus. Recently, 100 students of all grade levels at Standley Lake had a chance to share their voice. When asked about what students do during their time off, only 17.2% of students said they study and do homework, while the other 82.8% said they hang out with friends, go home or go out to eat.

The Lake set out to get more insight on how Standley Lake students spend their off-hours.

“I wasn’t here in the building last year, so my off hours are now spent in study groups instead of on my couch,” says Reyna Zeitler ‘23.

Being a senior often brings more responsibilities, which means many seniors may be applying to college or making plans for after high school.

“In the past years I'd say I used it more to hang out with friends in addition to studying. Now I mostly use it for studying, since I've gotten more busy with college applications,” says Noah Smith Higashi ‘22.

Standley Lake seniors gave advice for underclassmen who aren’t sure how to use their off-hours. Anthony Vue ‘22, suggests that students should save their free time for when they don’t have schoolwork.

“Don't waste your time doing something fun. Instead, do all your work on your off-hours so you get a whole lot of free time later,” suggests Anthony Vue ‘22.

Teagan Stout ‘22, recommends taking advantage of the time to get the help you need to succeed in school.

“Take advantage of them. There are so many different teachers for different subjects who can help you during that time,” says Stout, ‘22.

However, Standley Lake has been experiencing a new issue surrounding off-hours. Many surrounding neighborhoods outside of the SLHS community have been complaining about an excessive amount of trash being left on lawns, sidewalks and streets. Although students have already been notified about this problem, it continues to happen. The consequence of this could be a closed campus for all students. As a way of cleaning up the waste, many students participated in the Trash or Treat clean up event during Advisement class on October 29th, 2021. Students and staff had the opportunity to clean up the Standley Lake community due to the constant littering. In order to be able to leave the school freely and have a choice of how to use their off-hours, students must be responsible and take care of their surroundings.

Off hours can be utilized in various ways; some prefer to use their off-hours for hanging out with friends, while others take the time to study. They can be a perfect time to take a mental break from a long school day and hard classes. Although there are many different ways to take advantage of off-hours, the common purpose of being able to take a break during school hours remains.

Stella Abernethy | Tyxun Lo | Katie Warnaka | Tayler Sweeney |