During the 2014-15 school year, the school implemented a new program called Panther Den. This was to be a thirty-minute study period in which students would be assigned to different teachers in order to either improve their performance in a subject or to enrich their learning experience. The initial schedule included Panther Den on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of every week. Now, the schedule has been altered to include Panther Den every day of the week.

Having Panther Den daily is a huge benefit to both students and staff. Not only does this allow more time for students to improve, but it allows other students to either further their learning or study for other subjects. As for the teachers, they are able to further aid struggling students and have more opportunities to give to students in regards to making up assignments.

There is no doubt that Panther Den provides time for students to receive help for challenging classes. However, the previous schedule made it difficult for teachers to schedule time with various students and allowed inconsistency in their path toward improvement. The new schedule will create of daily progress in students struggling with a subject and will eventually allow them to gain help in several different subjects.

The thirty-minute period is also a great resource for study time. Previously, students would often forget if they had Panther Den or not on a certain day leading them to be frustrated if they did not have those extra thirty minutes to prepare for other class periods. Having Panther Den every day eliminates this problem and, in addition, gives students time to relax and destress before a day of hard work.

Not only is the new Panther Den schedule beneficial for students, but it is also a convenient tool for teachers. For instance, it gives teachers the opportunity to request students into their Panther Den for weeks at a time. This allows much more time for them to reteach concepts to struggling students. Also, teachers now have the chance to schedule make-up tests or re-tests for students, eliminating most scheduling conflicts faced by students before and after school.

Some students may argue the point that having Panther Den everyday takes away from their free time. However, the educational benefits of this daily program greatly outweigh the inconvenience of having thirty minutes added to a school day. Without Panther Den, many teachers and students alike would be scrambling to make time for re-takes, studying and re-teaching.

It’s undeniable that Panther Den is a helpful aid to the school experience. This being said, implementing a daily Panther Den only improves the benefits of the program. Daily Panther Den will prove to be useful to all students, regardless of their grades, and give teachers to improve the high school experience as a whole.