Students at Norwalk High School have always had their own unique reasons for having pride in this school. Their reasons may include the wide variety of classes available, the great extracurricular activities offered, or even experiences they have witnessed first hand that have helped them mature.

Though these are all great attributes that we acknowledge within our school, NHS has one aspect that other Fairfield County high schools cannot offer their students, a sense of the “real world”.

Welcome back to a new school year.  Hopefully you enjoyed your summer vacation because it might be your last.

President Barack Obama has recently stated that kids in America are not spending enough time in school as other students are around the world. 

 “Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas... But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom,” said Obama.  He wishes to add hours to regular school days, to remain open late through out the week, and to be available for students on weekends.

            “It’s going to change how kids feel about going to school…Most kids don’t like it now, why would they want to come more?” said Carlis Sead (10). Chassity Brimmley (09) also agreed with Carlis and stated that, “I think it would be a bad thing and students would not be into school as much as they are now.” The transition from having summer breaks to spending time in the classroom will be a negative factor to many students.

            "Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here.  I want to just level the playing field,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, in an interview with the Associated Press.  

With a longer school year, our youth will be able to compete with the education level from other countries such as China. “We are competing with lots of other countries around the world...All kids go to school at least forty days more than we do…Since China has 60 more days of school, that’s an equivalent to two more years than us.” said Mr. Hariton.

  “Having a summer is necessary. We all need our time off and time to transition into the next grade. On a positive note, it would benefit us in the long run”, said Sara Ruggieri (10). Giving up a few vacation days or weeks has a positive impact on the student body but taking away more than this is not necessarily a good thing. Mr. Hariton stated that the one positive about Obama’s opinions is that, “This would be one thing that will move us closer to being globally competitive with the rest of the world.”

However, Mr. Hariton was also reassuring by stating that, “The president only has the power to influence, and the decision of schools is left to the states.”