Our position: Computer carts are essential for athletic study hall

Athletic study hall is an invaluable resource to busy student athletes. It allows them a free period to complete work for other classes, in hopes that they can make up time lost at practices, games and meets. It also provides for a break in athletes’ elongated school day for them to converse with friends or simply rest their brains before going on with their days.

But as classes become more centered around technology, more and more assignments are required to be completed online, through programs like Logger Pro, Google Drive and Canvas.

While these programs enhance the classroom experience and teach students important 21st century skills, making progress on these assignments can be difficult without access to a computer. Therefore, students in athletic study hall need access to computers without having to leave their study hall classroom to do so.

All study halls should have equal opportunities. Students in athletic study hall have the same needs as students in normal study halls and shouldn’t be slighted just because the class was not on their schedule to start the semester. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Room 251, North Campus’s main room for scheduled study halls, has a number of desktop computers available for student use at any time. On the other hand, the athletic study hall in room 236 maintains a single laptop, hidden in the corner of the room. This laptop is often occupied, sometimes for the whole period, leaving other students needing to type, print or submit an assignment high and dry. While these students are welcome to try reserving a spot in the library or Discovery Center, spaces are limited and some students are still stuck waiting or hoping that they’ll have better luck in their lunch study hall or that their teacher will allow them to print before or during class.

One of the many privileges students at LT enjoy are the portable computer carts that allow students to work on online assignments in the convenience of their classrooms. While these computer carts are relatively few in number, permanently adding one to the athletic study hall should be a new priority for the school’s administration and staff. Having these carts will allow students greater access to their resources, give them a better chance of using their time productively and provide them more opportunities to practice their skills. By limiting students’ access to the resources they need to complete their work, directly or indirectly, athletic study hall is not completely serving that purpose. That is why it’s time to make a new addition to room 236.