If someone is on a diet and is trying to lose weight, would they take a week off? No, because they would lose their daily routine and all of the momentum they have gained up to that point. This is similar to students having their preparations for finals interrupted by winter break. This is the way that the Sheboygan Area School District calendar is set up. At the end of December students and staff have a full week to take a break for the holidays.

Having a week-long break allows for students to visit with family whether it be close to home or out of state. It is also a time, unfortunately, for students to take a break from their school work since the year is nearly half over. School work is not the number one priority for many students over this break because it may be the only chance to visit with loved ones who they regularly do not get a chance to see. This is better explained by Senior Ben Boldt when he stated,

¨My Uncle Stevie lives in North Carolina and he usually only comes to visit around the holidays. I wish that he lived closer because then my family and I could spend more time with him. When he comes to town for the holidays I tend to worry less about what is happening with my school work and upcoming finals.¨ Family is not the only reason why students neglect their school work over the winter break. The school year is nearly half over around this break and it is the longest period of time that students will of had off since the start of the school year. Because of this, students tend to want a break from school without the thought of upcoming finals, since they’ve been so focused on their school work for four months. When asked about why she puts off her school work over winter break Junior Brianna Greene states,

“Especially Junior year, the school year can get overwhelming with AP classes, the upcoming ACT test, and starting to search for colleges. Winter break allows me to take a mental recess and to get ready for the rest of the school year.” It is hard for some students to focus on school work for 16 weeks, take a break, and then quickly return to take heavily weighted finals. However, this is not the case for college students. Their schedule is set up so that finals are before their winter break, making it more manageable to prepare and do well on finals. There are many different advantages to having finals before winter break, this is explained by Alumna Zoe Schrameyer,

¨Going from having finals after winter break to having them before the break is a bigger change than you think. I liked having them before break because teachers and professors were able to see me in person at any time if I had a question rather than having to wait a whole week to see them or having to send an email. I also feel that having a week off before finals sets students back a little bit. Knowing me – assuming other students feel the same way – I don’t feel like studying and doing homework when I have time with family who I have not seen for quite some time¨.  

These are only a couple of pros to having finals before winter break. It will also leave students with a sense of relief and closure to come back after break at the start of a new semester instead of continuing the previous semester. This idea is reinforced by Alumni Evan Horen when he stated,

“I hope that in the future Sheboygan Area School District will consider moving up finals week to before break. I believe that this would be beneficial to students because during my first semester of college I felt more prepared for finals before winter break. It feels good to come back after break knowing that I have a fresh start.” When FlexMod was proposed to be the new schedule of South High School, one of the main reasons for the change was that it brought a sense of individual responsibility much like that of a college student. Moving finals before winter break will be more similar to a college schedule that a majority of students will benefit from in their post-high school education. Ultimately, the main goal of changing to a new schedule is to help benefit students in all areas of academics.