Mount Vernon High School has win/homeroom periods on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s. Most students during these times either don’t do work they have assigned or just don’t have work to do in the first place. For those students homeroom and win become a free 30 minute period where they do nothing, and waste that time. 

Instead of having homeroom and win every Tuesday and Wednesday Mount Vernon should introduce something called a last block. What a last block would be is a slot of time that is at the end of the day, every day, also after all of the classes are already over for the day. 

This slot of time would be exactly like a win and homeroom period except it is not mandatory unless you are ‘claimed’ by a teacher. If you were to be claimed by a teacher it could be for different reasons like, making up a test, getting extra help or even a strength and speed make up. All of these things already happen during win and homeroom periods. However, for the students that don’t have a test to make up or don’t need extra help with school work, they are able to go home during this. And have more free time. 

Being allowed to go home during the last block each day would allow students more time to get any homework done that they may have. Many times student-athletes have practices or games and they can go very late into the night, this causes them to stay up late, messing up their sleep schedule, all to get homework done or to study for tests. 

When athletes have game days it ends up taking most of their night away, and without a last block when they finally get home from school they have to go straight to their games. But if we added a last block to the school day athletes would have more time to get everything done that they may have to do. Instead of having wasted time during the school day. 

Having a last block at the end of the school day allows students and athletes to have more time to study for tests, get homework done, ask teachers questions and have free time.