Students with obligations outside of academics often have a harder time completing their work; whether you’re in band, theater, or ROTC, students who are committed to their extracurriculars will tell you it can be a challenge to finish all their assignments in the limited time frame their schedule allows.

School athletics are no exception.

Student athletes often fall behind in their classes due to their concentration on their sport – the big game can easily take priority over schoolwork.

A new district initiative states that while their sports are in season, student athletes are required to spend one hour in study hall before going to their practices on early release Mondays.

Nikki Lockett, Robinson’s athletic director, explains the details of the “new” policy.

“This is a district initiative, and it actually went into effect about three years ago, and now we are just changing it,” Lockett said. “Since we have early release Mondays, the students will use that time to study before they have practices, and all practices will not commence until after 3:30.”

The plan has been met with mixed reactions, from outrage at the loss of the extra hour out of school to appreciation of the extra study time.

Brooke Silverstein, a sophomore volleyball player, is not happy with the new change.

“I think that it doesn’t really help that much because it’s only an hour, and especially in IB, there isn’t that much you can get done if you only sit down for an hour or so,” Silverstein said. “Also, it’s quite noisy in there so it’s hard to focus. I’d rather just start practice right after school, finish practice an hour earlier than normal, and get home an hour earlier to work on homework.”

However, football player Quentin Burney (’20) has a different view.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to use our brains before becoming physically exhausted and mentally fatigued,” Burney said.

While the actual implementation of the study hall was met with mixed reactions, it’s encouraging to know that the school district is actively trying to better the grades of student athletes so they can keep on playing the sport to which they are so dedicated.