With the girls’ State soccer tournament well underway, the administration has been forced to alter daily schedules due to morning games. As a result, teachers are faced with scheduling challenges when it comes to tests, projects and other assignments on their syllabi.

“We can’t deliver lessons as effectively as we would like,” history teacher Ms. Kathy Green said.

Structuring lesson plans to fit missed days forces teachers to choose what is most important for students to learn. “It is harder work around with my AP European History class; we have the impending deadline of the AP test. It wouldn’t be a big [deal to me], that aside,” history teacher Ms. Kathy Green said.

BSM builds a few days into the school year that the administration plans to have off for various reasons: sports games, snow days or power outages. “I think it affects students more than it affects teachers. I can be flexible and rearrange, but it makes it hard to plan around big gaps like Thanksgiving and Christmas,” math teacher Mrs. Mary Seppala said.

Over the years, teachers have taken measures to adjust to the frequent conflicts. “Every year there are always State games, so I always have it built into the back of my head. If I compare to last year we are a little bit ahead. We just have to be flexible,” Mrs. Seppala said.

“For my weekly plans, I do get behind. Over the semester, I don’t. I try to catch up on other days or I will just pick and choose what is important based on how much time we have,” French teacher Mme Anna Geving said.

Student participation in events like these soccer games is important in growing the BSM community, and helps students to become more involved and allows them to be excited about the accomplishments their classmates are making outside of the classroom. “I think it is good because it promotes school spirit and there would be a ton of kids gone anyways. Some kids here and some kids not would be more disruptive, and that would be harder. Plus, it is fun to go and watch the games, I go as well,” Mrs. Seppala said.

As administration tries out new schedules, they take notice of the behaviors of students in order to avoid losing too many full days. “There is so much excitement, that students are more excited about the soccer game, and trying to concentrate after all of that can be difficult. Especially when coming to school after a game and trying to focus on French, it has its challenges,” Mme Geving said.