Teen-zzzz
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 29, 2015 1:46 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Emily Bible, 16, hostess at Olive Garden, prepares menus and seating for guests on Thursday evening. Miss Bible is a junior at Wayne Early/Middle College High School, which starts at 10:50 a.m. She said the late start is an ideal schedule for students with jobs and allows her to better complete her schoolwork.
Leah Weaver is a night owl.
"I like to stay up late. I do my best work," says the Wayne School of Engineering senior, who just turned 17.
Having a later school start time helps -- WSE hours are from 10:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
"Before, I'd be exhausted. I slept through class," she said. "At Rosewood Middle, they changed the start time from 8 to 7:30 when I was in seventh grade, so I had to get up at 5:30 and had to be on the bus by 6:30.
"But coming here, I actually read in a study last year, teenagers waking up at 6 o'clock in the morning is just as hard to do as a 50-year-old trying to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning."
Teenagers, especially ones in high school, have "so much stuff" to do, said Miss Weaver, who has already amassed a resume that includes such extra curricular activities as Junior Leadership and the Mayor's Youth Council.
"School doesn't stop when you leave school," she said. "You have to stay up late, you have to get your stuff done. You're not fully rested and you're sleepy in class."
She has not had an 8 a.m. class in four years, until she recently acquired a college class that meets then.
"It's reminding me of what I did in middle school," she said. "It takes me back. I don't like 8 o'clock classes any more. You're so tired and exhausted."
Studies have been done over the years by educators and health professionals, with consistent findings that older students fare better on a later school schedule.
It just makes sense, says Kerry Loury, counselor at Wayne Early/Middle College High School.
She recalls teaching in a Florida district where first period started at 7:30 and "more than half of my class would have their heads on the desk." When that county decided to flip hours at the high school and middle school, the difference was immediate.
"The smaller child tends to be up early and older children do sleep in," she said. "It was wonderful for the kids, it was wonderful for the teachers, it was wonderful for the parents."
The "natural cycle" schedule, though, has not found its way into all schools. Of the remaining six high schools in Wayne County Public Schools, four start at 8 a.m., with Rosewood at 8:15 and Spring Creek at 7:45.
The district's two newest high schools with later hours have also boasted the county's highest graduation rates and test scores since being introduced nearly 10 years ago.
Wayne Early/Middle College High School, which opened in 2006 on the Wayne Community College campus, operates from 10:50 a.m. until 4:50 p.m. Wayne School of Engineering opened in 2007.
WEMCH Principal Lee Johnson admits that when the school first opened, she wasn't sure about the schedule.
"But having done it going into our 10th year, I wouldn't do it any other way" she said. "I was concerned about kids getting home later but it just pays off. It works better for our kids."
Robin Morton, a math teacher at WEMCH, formerly worked at a school that started at 7:30 a.m.
"It was tough. The kids were not awake, getting on the bus at dark thirty," she said. "They were probably not awake until about 9 o'clock."
"We don't have the problem of kids falling asleep in class," noted Melissa Hughes, in her ninth year teaching math at the school.
Students attest to that.
"For me personally, it works a lot better because I'm more productive at night," said junior Hayralah Alghorazi. "I have always slept later than most."
Classmate Naudia Gay said she is more productive in the morning.
"Being able to get to school later, I can wake up a little earlier, get some work done and still go to school," she said. "So coming in later in the day I can go home, do homework or something (else), I can wake up earlier in the morning and get other work done. It's easier."
Ninth-grader Rebecca Eliassaint enjoys the schedule, saying she gets more sleep and at the end of the day is not as tired.
Melissa Olague said with high schoolers having driver's licenses, the start time allows them the chance to run errands or do other things before school. Junior Cassie Murray said the schedule is also advantageous for those with jobs.
"I have a job and I don't work during the week any more but I'm starting to," says 11th-grader Emily Bible. "I get out at 3:40 now from my classes so that allows me to go to work earlier, so I can get out earlier, and I'm not struggling for time to do homework because I have all these spaces in between my classes where I can do it and study at school and then go home and relax."
That was not always the case, she said, recalling the 7:30 a.m. start time she had in middle school.
"I was asleep for an hour and half (in class) before I woke up," she said.
Similar stories come out of Wayne School of Engineering, says Principal Gary Hales, which expanded to have grades 6-12.
"They are well-rested when they walk in the door, I will say. They are not dragging," he said. "They come in ready."
Emily Burke taught math at Charles B. Aycock High School for three years. In her six weeks at WSE, she immediately noticed a difference, not only in the students but in the teachers.
"You come in more prepared, I think, with just a fresher state of mind, because I still wake up at the same time, as if I were going to be at work at 8 o'clock," she said. "But I can get my morning started and I'm not rushing. Everything's a little more laid back so my students get to me, I'm not frantically trying to make sure that I've got everything done.
"We're here at 9:15 and we have meetings. So my brain is already working with other people and we're collaborating and doing all that stuff. The first thing I do is not teach my kids. Somebody else is either teaching me or helping me or you know, just having an adult conversation before you have a conversation with a 15-year-old. Sometimes you go through a whole day and you haven't have an adult conversation until you get home."
She said she has also been pleased with how students handle responsibilities and time management.
"I can tell you that there are less absences first period, they're well rested and the job is not an excuse, it's just an addition to what they do. It's not in place of," she said.
"We've got a student that goes into work every day at 4:30 in the morning and works up until school," Hales said.
"I have a student that's a manager at a restaurant," Ms. Burke said. "Every night he's there and he comes in and he's rested. He's gotten done what he needs to get done or if he gets here at 10 o'clock, he can get it done and have it ready for first period."
Selena Morales, a ninth-grader, has been at the school since sixth grade.
"I feel way more rested from elementary school because we had to get up so early," she said. "For me, I used to sleep on the bus on the way home and now I have cheer (practice) after school so I'm like energized for that.
"Starting later just helps me much more because like in elementary school I had to do my homework at night and now I can just wake up a little earlier and do it before I come to school."
Sophomore Abbey Winders shudders when she thinks of arriving at middle school at 7:30 a.m.
"You had to sit in the gym with no air conditioning. Boys and girls were split and you couldn't talk so you had to sit on the bleachers until school started," she said. "But now you can get here and talk with your friends and you can just walk around and you don't have to worry about getting up early so you're not as tired and you can focus more."
Sixth-grader Hayley McPhail said mornings have always been hectic at her house.
"We wouldn't have time to do anything," she said. "It was just kind of stressful. And now you have time to get up, wake up, you're not in a rush in the mornings."
Malik Jarman, an eighth-grader, formerly had to be at school at 8:05, but also had to be out the door early as his parents own a business.
"It was hard for me to like get up and not be tired or anything like that," he said. "But now if I do wake up and I'm still tired I can take a nap and get right back up and be able to be in school on time."