Changes have hit students for Liberty Hour this year.

Instead of last year’s hour-long mix between lunch and tutoring, students now have 35 minutes between fifth and sixth period to do homework, go to tutoring, attend clubs or socialize with friends. For freshmen, the new Liberty Hour is all they really can imagine, but for upperclassmen this has been an adjustment.

   “At LHS, we are always looking for innovative ways to engage students in school and improve student achievement,” LHS administrator Rosemary Camp said.  “Changing the format of Liberty Hour is just one example of how we hope to assist each student in succeeding at LHS.”

   Teams of teachers and administrators visited numerous schools before deciding to separate Liberty Hour from lunch. They communicated in person with different people within the school district.

   “We talked to chairmen, we talked to teachers, to custodians and lunch ladies,” Camp said. “We also looked at many different schools. We looked at North’s Eagle Hour and followed that schedule for the day.”

   This decision was discussed for around six months and went through much thought.

   Camp made sure to look at the statistics for Liberty Hour to see the rise and fall in tutoring attendance. She observed what people often did during Liberty Hour outside of tutoring.

   “If you look at last year’s Liberty Hour, you’ll see that the peak in attendance was around a 71%. Then you look at the attendance thus far into this school year. One day the sophomore class even reached a 93% attendance to tutoring,” Camp said. “When I look around I see more kids working on school work with their friends which was the purpose of Liberty Hour.”

   The new version of Liberty Hour has its perks. Students do not have to focus on fighting through the lunch line, or worry about not having enough time to eat. The school has also set up a link on the LHS website that can help students find out about tutoring hours, club times and other actives relating to Liberty Hour.

   Many freshmen like the new extra time to do school work and get help.

   “I’ve benefited from numerous things, such as getting extended one-on-one help with teachers during Liberty Hour,” freshman Abby Potter said. “I see a lot of benefits, not just for me, but for other people. Such as when other kids don’t understand in class, they can ask the teacher during Liberty Hour.”

Upperclassmen are still getting used to it.

   “I could see the new Liberty Hour affecting tutoring, because last year whenever I would go in to get questions answered it would take a little while and I don’t know if 35 minutes is enough time,” sophomore Hannah Odom said.

   Some upperclassmen have even gone as far as to say the new Liberty Hour will not be as productive as the old one.

   “I guarantee I can’t get as much done as I used to be able to,” junior Kailyn Peterson said. “I could accomplish practicing on two of my four arts classes and I did not get my homework done. My homework got done during lunch just like during the old Liberty Hour, practicing for violin and my audition for the musical.”

   With the continued passing of time, students may change their opinions.

    “It is our goal that giving this time to students will result in deeper learning of content that will translate into greater student achievement in courses,” Camp said.

   One thing can probably be agreed upon by all students: better 35 minutes than no Liberty Hour at all.

Learn more about the physiological benefits of breaks throughout the day here