Fifty seven percent of students play a high school sport. With such a large percentage of the school population participating in after-school sports, many are burdened by missing class multiple days a week. Considering that games tend to fall on the same days each week, student-athletes consistently miss the same classes which could lead to declining grades and increased stress.

Due to student athletes missing the same classes for games, the schedule needs to be changed to a rotational basis.

Redwood girls’ varsity soccer player Brady Dowd has pre-calculus during her seventh period. She constantly has to make up tests and finds herself not being successful in a core class.

“I keep falling behind because I am putting in extra time to not only do sports but also catch up with my classes. I miss math class almost twice every week. I am so far behind. It’s just really unfair because I am so lost, and I have a poor grade in that class because of soccer,” Dowd said. 

Many students find it challenging to rearrange schedules because they are unable to adjust the timing of some of their classes. Due to these scheduling issues, students occasionally have to drop or receive poor grades in classes they would otherwise enjoy. 

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, students who are physically active tend to have better grades, school attendance, memory and classroom behaviors. Parents, teachers and doctors encourage physical activity, but with our school schedule,  students start falling behind in school for their sports. 

Recently, I was expected to understand and complete an assignment despite missing the lesson for soccer. With little to no guidance, I was unable to complete the assignment to the best of my ability and had to turn it in knowing that I was at a disadvantage. 

In order to stop athletes from missing the same class multiple times a week, a rotational schedule should be put in place. The schedule would be altered so that Monday has all seven periods, Tuesday and Wednesday are periods one through three and SMART and Thursday and Friday are periods four through seven. This rotational schedule will prevent student-athletes from having to miss the same classes each week, as they have one game at the beginning of the week and the other at the end. 

Non-athletes might not agree with the rotating schedule because they will have the same first three classes three days in a row. But in reality, this schedule splits up schoolwork to be done throughout the week which is beneficial to all. 

If it’s a student’s choice to play after-school sports, it’s easy to see why teachers are upset that athletes are constantly missing class. Teachers expect you to be in class and should put you to the same standard as the rest of the students. But, students don’t choose game times that intentionally interfere with school hours. Athletes deserve the right to not have their education be hindered by their school-sponsored activities; thus, this rotational schedule needs to be put into place.