Wednesdays are a good day to just catch up and also get ahead. Most students can agree that their schedule is pretty packed during the week and having this day off helps them manage their time. Creating a schedule for Wednesday helps students develop time management skills that will be necessary for their futures.

When in-person learning begins, it will be difficult to find time to meet with teachers. Teachers will have a lot of planning to do in the beginning and their time will be limited. Coming out from the hybrid model, there are concepts that kids never fully grasped, and they will need a lot of assistance from teachers. Without Wednesdays, office hours will disappear. Office hours are a good way for teachers to give assistance to students. Most students rely on this time because their schedules are packed before and after school. It will be a lot tougher to schedule a time that works for both the teacher and student without these office hours.

Not only did these Wednesdays help students manage their time, but they also alleviated a lot of stress. As a junior, this year is very stressful for me and there is a lot of stuff to be done. Wednesdays really help me stay on top of my work. For many other juniors, Wednesday is also a time to meet with tutors from outside of school, for example, SAT tutors.

With in-person learning, classes will most likely be more difficult, and the workload will increase. Classes will meet more times a week and more in-person tests will be given. Transitioning from meeting two times a week per class to four will be difficult with the increased workload. Most students do not have the same work ethic they had pre-pandemic. Students will not be used to the amount of work and adjusting will take time. Keeping Wednesdays as a workday will solve this problem.

Clubs usually meet on Wednesdays instead of after school, as they did before the pandemic. Overall, general interest in clubs has gone up because students who usually have sports after school can now attend club meetings. Wednesday also allows more time for students to meet, so students are getting to know each other better and take on bigger tasks. Personally, I joined the Rotary club, and I have really enjoyed it. Before COVID-19 hit, I was not a part of this club because I could never attend the meetings.

Keeping Wednesdays as “off-days” for in-person learning will benefit most students in the transition. Next year, I think we should attend school five days a week, but for now, four days will make a smoother transition with the sudden workload increase.