On behalf of Editorial Staff
The attraction of attending Kingwood Park is that it is sold as a place where kids can do anything and everything they can handle. They are encouraged to be multi-sport athletes and active members of organizations. On rare free nights, they then show up and support their classmates in their activities.
As the district’s only 5A high school with 1,800 students, “We are KPARK” is proudly shouted at sports events and pep rallies. But with Flex Hour being removed from the daily schedule, our strong culture is slowly dying. For a school that has always emphasized the importance of being active in high school, the tune is changing. Students are now being told they need to pick priorities and that doing everything is just not possible.
With Flex Hour, your home situation didn’t make a difference. You could catch the bus, pick up your little sibling from elementary school, attend your sports practice or make it to your 3:30 p.m. work shift all while being on top of your school work and being part of any clubs or organizations that interested you.
With clubs being held during the one-hour lunch break, students met up with classmates who shared similar interests – whether it was Fashion Club or Chess Club or Asian-American Club. There were meeting times all throughout the week for kids to express themselves while meeting up with new friends and old friends.
Moving clubs to after school is eliminating so much of the population who can no longer feasibly attend the meetings. Finding a sponsor to volunteer to stay after school is also a challenge.
In addition, Flex Hour allowed students to take a mental break. Students got their energy out by walking laps through the hallways, escaping the confines of the small classrooms.
Athletes and band members arrive at school around 6:45 a.m. and leave at 5:30 p.m. Ten hours non-stop with only a singular 30-minute break is just not suitable for students and their mental health.
Friendships were formed during the hour, and the lack of Flex Hour limits students’ abilities to meet new people and make new friends.
Flex provided a balance to students and it isn’t fair to force them to pick and choose what to make a priority, especially when that contradicts exactly what our school was built to encourage.
