By Bruce Piekarsa
Staff Writer
During winter break, all freshmen taking Marching Band received an email detailing their shift from Marching Band to Fitness for Life. This email was the first time somebody told me that I’d need more PE credits than four semesters of Marching Band offers, and it happened only five days before the class started.
This sudden change made me realize that the school should’ve given us more time. If something is changing, students need to be familiar with what is happening and why as soon as possible. The administrative team shouldn’t keep information this crucial a secret until the second semester starts. If the school is going to mandate classes, students should be aware of it before they create their schedule, or at least during the first semester.
The situation could’ve been resolved by informing the counselors and music teachers at Oak Avenue Intermediate School. If we had been informed that we were required to take a physical education course our entire freshman year, we could have accounted for that while choosing our other classes.
Now, a large portion of students can’t do anything about Fitness for Life, since they didn’t realize this was a class they’d have to take. All the freshmen that already have six other classes are now forced to switch out their zero period from Marching Band to Fitness for Life. Jazz band students are also affected since the course interferes with Fitness for Life. If we’d known ahead of time, we would’ve been able to plan accordingly by leaving an empty space in our schedule, or by looking for a sport to join.
I’ve checked with other band members, and the class of 2027 is the first in recent memory that has to take physical education for a full year. I’m doing something that my post-pandemic predecessors didn’t have to do, which made this change unpredictable. How could we have prepared for this sudden shift if we’d been kept in the dark? We can’t account for something if we didn’t know it existed.
Vice Principal Nathan Slaymaker confirmed that moving forward, freshmen taking Marching Band will also be required to switch to a class that offers PE credits second semester. They’ll receive the warning we didn’t get, and will be able to plan their schedules accordingly. Since we couldn’t get a heads up, the admin should’ve implemented the change starting next school year, because it affects a lot of students who aren’t prepared.
In the future, our administration should keep students informed of major decisions. We need to be treated with more respect and consideration, because our understanding of what’s happening matters.