AP classes, Honors classes, core classes, electives, sports, clubs, activities, plays and more. There are different sets of workloads for students and different ways of managing those workloads as the daily lives of a high school student evolve. 

Some students believe that the work is different for all of the different grades; notable gaps being from upperclassmen and lower classmen. 

“I know [the workload] varies between grades. As a freshman, I’m not taking any AP’s or Honors classes. I feel like my workload is manageable. I know it differs between classes, some classes I get more work, some classes I get less, but it’s nothing that seems too hard to handle,” freshman Carmen Gaines said. “I know from my friends who are older, they definitely have more work and it seems to be more stressful for them sometimes.”

Some students find SOAR to be a helpful tool in managing the workload students can receive. 

“The workload for students can be really stressful. If you are having six, seven classes a day it’s really hard to balance all those and make sure you make the due dates, and make sure you’re taking care of classes, but you also have extra activities,” junior Bianca Huitz said. “It’s really hard to balance and I find that a struggle, but I’ve found SOAR can be really helpful to go and get that help that you need because you don’t always get that help at home. 

There are classes that offer different levels of work outside of school and during school. Elective classes are generally thought to give less homework, whereas core classes such as English and math may offer more.

“With elective teachers, which [are] three of your classes, they don’t often give homework,” sophomore Tyler Certain said. “Those core classes sometimes give you big assignments, but it’s more like one or two so it’s a decent size.” 

When asked whether or not they preferred work to be during or after school, many said they prefer work to be during school. 

“This is schooltime, we’re spending seven hours out of our day so why would you want to go home and do more work?” Gaines said. “Especially people with sports, it’s a lot at the same time so when I also have to do homework I don’t really get any free time. That makes it more stressful.” 

Extracurriculars can become major stressors depending on the level of commitment to them. 

“I do think that minimizing [homework] during the weekend can really help, especially students that take up extra activities during the school year,” Huitz said. 

As a final note, Huitz offered a bit of advice in regards to managing the workload. 

“Stop Procrastinating. When I’m just sitting there I will pick up my phone, not even realizing what I’m doing,” Huitz said. “I think the best thing for teens to do is turn off their phones completely when doing homework and set a certain time to do things. It’s so addictive and it takes so much longer to do homework when there’s technology around you.”