(Disclaimer: The individuals that have expressed their opinions in the following article are responsible for their own opinions alone. The Smoke Signal welcomes dissenting opinions via Op Eds or letters to the editor.)

Pascack Period is a time for students to do their work, relax, talk with friends, and take classes that interest them but may not already be in their curriculum.

In short, it is a time for students. Or is it?

Though we have the choice to take the classes we want, they are constantly interrupted by assemblies. I personally haven’t been able to keep up with my own Pascack Period class, SAT Prep, throughout the course of the year. I am getting less preparation than I initially expected, and that may end up impacting my future. Others haven’t been able to get the full impact of their classes as well.

Shannon Miles, a junior, said that the assemblies “are a good idea but people don’t really care about them.”

Though many of these assemblies are important, the point of Pascack Period is to allow students to pursue their interests and to have some downtime to de-stress. According to Miles, we can’t exactly do that when the classes we sign up for are constantly being interrupted by these assemblies.

“I think [the assemblies] are stupid because I have work to get done, and people who have clubs during the time can’t go because of assemblies that don’t matter,” junior Alexandra Malc said.

Perhaps, the administration could make these assemblies optional instead; this way those who wish to go can, and those who don’t won’t have to.

Not only that, but the classes we have a chance to take are limited. There is some variety, but many focus more on physical aspects rather than true old fashioned lessons on interesting and unconventional subjects.

Another downside is that many popular classes are not continued throughout the year. Many classes only last for half of the year, not allowing for a full year of learning to take place. How can one expect to learn all there is to know about a certain subject when the weekly class is often interrupted and only lasts for a limited period of time?

Not everyone in the school has a choice on how to spend their time. Freshmen are confined to Freshman Seminar, which simply shows how they are not viewed in the same light as upperclassmen and are not given the same privileges. Since they have just come out of middle school, allowing them the opportunity to pursue new things should be a given. They are the future of this school, after all, so making them feel as part of the school community should be of top priority. But apparently it isn’t.

“We really don’t do anything [in Freshman Seminar]. It’s a waste of time,” freshman Megan Costello said.

Pascack Period is our time. So please, let us have it.