The addition of S.P.E.A.R. this year was a move on the district’s part that left many students confused. The district’s decision creates a time for “connection and academic support,” according to BHS Principal, Gordon Boschman. “It’s structured and organized now,” he said. 

S.P.E.A.R is an opportunity for students to become more involved in their school, as seen with the club rush, the class meetings, and the assignments given for students to work on together. It’s also helping students to track their grade, and to make a plan in order to raise certain grades. Teachers at BHS said the addition of S.P.E.A.R time has definitely made things harder, but many of them believe it to be very beneficial to the student body. 

Last year, that extra time students were given was embedded into each class, but it has since been implemented as a 55 minute block occurring every Tuesday after the first period and the name has been changed to S.P.E.A.R. The acronym of SPEAR stands for; Self, Professionalism, Engagement, Academics, and Relationships. S.P.E.A.R time focuses on improving those parts in students’ lives, but adjusting to this new addition in the schedule has been difficult for everyone involved, not just students. 

But what do the students think of it? Many students harbor feelings of confusion toward the addition of S.P.E.A.R. on Tuesdays. Olivia Blake, a senior here at BHS, stated, “I think it isn’t beneficial. It’s annoying that it seems like there’s always something different to do, and that those things now have to be turned in for a grade,” the student said. ”I wish we got more time to work on schoolwork instead of getting new assignments.” 

During the first session of S.P.E.A.R time, the senior meeting, multiple students voiced many concerns; Many people have called S.P.E.A.R stupid, pointless, a waste of time, among other things. It seems as though the general opinion is that people would prefer it if BHS didn’t include it at all; if it went back to the way it used to be.

Assistant Principal, Daisha Agho remarked, “You always get pushback when implementing something new like this, it’s hard to get students to find the value.” She also commented on how S.P.E.A.R time has made her much busier, and it’s making her job harder. She doesn’t dislike it, in fact she’s happy to give students this opportunity, but it’s a difficult task to handle, especially when you need to plan activities and get students to start approving of it. But she isn’t alone in handling this big task, she has other teachers to help her. SPEAR time is planned out by four other teachers other than Agho; Amber Wharton, Allison Lanter, Hayden Sweet, and Carin Barrett.

There are other purposes behind S.P.E.A.R. though, “Those times will also be used for some standardized testing by grade level, there’ll be times for senior class meetings, junior class meetings, and so forth,” Boschman stated. The clear intention behind S.P.E.A.R. is for spare time to be used more effectively to help students function in the BHS environment.

It has been difficult on the staff to implement this new event into the school’s schedule, mostly because it’s brand new, and organizing a new system creates stress, but they are confident that its implementation will be smooth and effective. “The goal is to keep the system as is and make improvements and adjustments as time goes on to make it as effective as it can be,” according to Boschman.