Wednesday Enrichment Time, an opportunity for students and teachers to collaborate, schedule meetings and complete work asynchronously, was introduced in the Fall semester’s bell schedule. This new allotted time will take place every Wednesday, from 2:15-3:15 p.m. Different from office hours and Flex Time, Enrichment Time aims to alleviate excess stress, increase crucial communication and stimulate productivity among students.
Enrichment Time was created with a diverse and complex range of distance learning situations in mind.
“We know that there is a large number of students at Aragon and across our district who have other responsibilities at home, like helping take care of family members or working to help support their families,” said principal Valerie Arbizu. “It’s important that students have a little more time to complete their distance learning assignments.”
Enrichment Time isn’t limited to asynchronous work time; Aragon aims to include a plethora of activities and opportunities for students during the period.
“It is our plan to use Enrichment Time to enrich the lives of the students in the Aragon community,” Arbizu said. “It’s important for students to have access to activities that are not specifically academic in nature, but will support their social-emotional learning and well-being.”
“I’ve been able to be really effective with my work in that time after school”
Students are taking advantage of the extra time to improve upon study habits and in return are experiencing many benefits from the updated schedule.
“Normally I procrastinate a lot on schoolwork, but with Enrichment Time I’ve been able to do my homework,” said sophomore Kamaile Zimmerman. “Procrastination is a huge deal with high school students right now. When given so much free time at home, it can be hard to get stuff done.”
With all the challenges of online learning, the ability to focus on simple tasks has become increasingly more difficult. The new schedule block provides students with the opportunity to concentrate their attention to unfinished assignments.
“It’s a good amount of time,” said sophomore Kendall Makuta. “If you use your time wisely, then [Enrichment Time] is a really good time frame to finish things up. I’ve been able to be really effective with my work in that time after school.”
Students have been striving to rapidly adapt to distance learning, and administrators are working hard to ensure that all aspects of school are as seamless as possible.
In particular, the Wellness Counselors at Aragon work to utilize Enrichment Time to connect with students through Zoom.
“Our Wellness Department is planning on running groups, as we have each year,” said Max Bernstein, a wellness counselor.
With virtual wellness groups, outreach into communities becomes easier. Enrichment Time and similar schedule blocks are being implemented at numerous schools across the San Mateo Union High School District, so opportunities to connect with staff and students from other schools are present.
“There is a lot of expertise throughout the district within the wellness counselors,” said Bernstein. “We would then allow not only the experts from Aragon to share, but we can also get some of the really strong counselors who aren’t at Aragon to help as well.”
“With Enrichment Time, we can focus on what we can be doing to [better] our health and ability to focus and concentrate”
Enrichment Time is primarily for asynchronous work time. However, administrators also plan on using it for student events during the school day without reducing class periods.
“On the days where we don’t have school wide events planned, teachers will be able to make use of the time, like office hours,” Arbizu said. “[This includes] supporting students who need a little more help, scheduling study sessions and so on.”
Enrichment Time also presents an opportunity to improve work habits and mental health. Since work is expected to be completed independently during this time, students can utilize this period however they choose.
“There needs to be more thought given as to how we can include time that people are spending away from screens,” Bernstein said. “With Enrichment Time, we can focus on what we can be doing to [better] our health and ability to focus and concentrate. I believe that will do wonders for people’s academics as well.”
In order to maintain a healthy connection between teachers and students, communication is vital, especially in the digital classroom. With a focus on reducing stress levels, students can rely on communication with faculty to create communities.
“[Enrichment Time is] also nice because a lot of teachers say that they only respond to emails during school hours, so I can email them during Enrichment Time,” Makuta said. “It allows for that extra communication and contact.”
Administrators hope that this schedule will boost productivity and reduce stress surrounding classes during the first semester. While the extension of Enrichment Time is undecided, the Aragon community is optimistic that the new schedule will serve as a unifying force during these uncertain times.
