English teacher Meg Geronimos’ Highlander TIme sessions on bedazzling were so popular, she started to run out of supplies.
Sophomore Kadence Holby stepped in, donating a lot of beads. Geronimos appreciated the gift.
“I bought (beads) on Amazon at first, which was relatively cheap, but since I had so many students sign up, it was hard to keep them in stock,” Geronimos said.
Holby was able to assist and keep the activity going.
“Her grandma has a lot of bedazzling beads and — it was so nice– they decided to donate all of them,” she said of Holby. “It was like a whole box full of them, so that will keep me in stock for quite a long time.”
Holby had gone to bedazzling in the beginning of the year and showed her grandmother what she had created. Their idea to donate the beads began there.
“I had gotten to the class and I bedazzled my AirPods, and I decided to show her them,” Holby said. “She asked about the class and I told her that they would probably benefit from getting the beads. So she offered to donate the extras that she had.”
Bedazzling is one of the many new activities available this year with the new Highlander Time program. The school day is now split by two 30-minute sessions in between blocks two and three. Students can eat lunch during one session, and for the other they can see teachers for tutoring, attend a club meeting, go to open gym, or join one of the various Highlander TIme activities hosted by teachers.
Co-Principal Brandon Whitfield sees the benefit of allowing students to choose their own Highlander Time sessions based on their personal needs and interests.
“Too many times in school we’re always telling you as a kid where you need to be and what you need to do. I think it’s a great time for you to choose different things that you want to do,” Whitfield said.
In Geronimos’s bedazzling session, she provides materials such as gems, tweezers, and glue, and students bring in an object to bedazzle. A variety of objects have been bedazzled, such as books, perfumes, pencils, and chapsticks.
Geronimos got the idea online.
“I just happened to be online, and I saw a book club hosting a book bedazzling session, and it was like a bunch of people in small groups just sitting together, bedazzling books,” Geronimos said. “I just thought that was a really cool way to get people involved and do something fun and creative.”
Senior Carly Dowhy enjoys going to bedazzling with her friends whenever she can.
“I (sometimes) have meetings for clubs, but whenever I don’t, I go to fun things like bedazzling. I go like probably twice a week,” she said.
There are several sessions for bracelet making, with Latin teacher Elizabeth Allemang hosting one of them.
“I was trying to think of things that I felt like students would enjoy – something that would be relaxing and not stressful, but also something that got them off their phones,” Allemang said. “My daughter was once an avid bracelet maker, and she was getting rid of all these beads and I said, ‘What can I do with them?’ And I thought, ‘I’ll take them to school.’ ”
However, Allemang has added a new element to the bracelet making — beverages.
“I have a coffee maker, and why not buy a teapot and make hot chocolate and call it ‘Beads and Bevvies,’ because it sounded good as well,” Allemang said.
This is a Highlander Time concept that often attracts repeat students, like junior Joseph Maiers.
“I try to make it to Beads and Bevvies every time it is available, usually once a week,” Maiers said. “It offers the opportunity to make bracelets and enjoy a drink, such as tea or hot chocolate.”
Highlander Time also allows students to interact with teachers and classes they do not typically have. Music teacher Kris Tranter has Highlander Time labs for music students to practice, but also times for all students to play with boomwhackers, host open mics, play Just Dance, and do bucket drumming.
Tranter appreciates seeing students discover the music area of Baldwin High School, such as the piano lab and choir room.
“I really enjoy the (Highlander Time sessions) that bring in a lot of the students who we don’t see — the Just Dance and bucket drumming type ones,” Tranter said. “They tend to be a way to get more students down in our corner of the building and a lot of people have never been in here. We have all these guitars unused, and we have this cool piano class that most people have never seen.”
Sessions such as open gym and various coloring times offer something similar to that of an elementary recess, Whitfield said.
“One thing I don’t think kids do enough is just play. Watching teenagers pick up a ball and just play with one another brings me back to childhood,” he said. “To watch kids in a room without a phone out and watching them color like they’re elementary school kids again is awesome.”
Senior Ashmita Guragai, who is president of the Literature Guild’s creative writing club, thinks that the blocks are perfect for students who may not be able to attend after-school club meetings because they don’t have rides or because they have other obligations.
“When I was an underclassman, there were many clubs I couldn’t join either because I had work, had to watch my sister, or had no way to get home afterwards,” she said.
Many teachers offer study halls, which are beneficial due to the new block schedules cutting down on the number of times students see their teachers per week. Social studies teacher Natalie Grattan sees several uses for these types of Highlander Times.
“Students have a lot of flexibility to come in and get help or make up quizzes,” Grattan said. “I do a ‘scholar half hour,’ where I’ve had groups of students sort of working together and teaching each other, but also asking for help.”
Junior Jenna High sees benefits of these study halls from a student perspective.
“Being able to use the study hall Highlander Times is really beneficial because I can make up tests or go see a teacher if I know I won’t be in their class,” High said.
Whitfield also sees benefits in teachers interacting with students they do not have in class.
“Students and teachers have the opportunity to do things and engage with activities that they personally enjoy throughout the day,” Whitfield said. “The majority of the teachers enjoy the opportunity in the middle of the day to not just grind out curriculum and the subjects that they’re hired to teach, but to be able to interact with kids and create relationships with kids they don’t know.”
Because Highlander Time sessions include lunch, students no longer have to give up their lunch if they want to take more classes, which was a common issue in years before. Previously, this had been an issue for music classes in particular, as they had taken place during lunch periods and many students had to eat during class instead.
“We’ve been able to focus more on learning because we’re not eating in the middle of class,” Tranter said.
Lunches are also now available in places other than the cafeterias, which were considered by some to be crowded and loud. Now, students can enjoy lunch in the atriums and overlook as well.
While many students enjoy Highlander Time and see benefits, others feel as though there are improvements to be made. Despite the choices available, many students want more consistency and a larger variety of options.
Junior Nyssa Kolocuris feels this way.
“I feel like there could be more options. Some weeks there are a lot of options and then there’s nothing to choose from the next week,” Kolocuris said.
There are also issues for teachers when coming up with Highlander Time. Not only do they have to come up with engaging activities, but they sometimes also have to partially fund them. As the school year goes on, supplies become scarce.
“I’m having trouble personally thinking of things creative to do that aren’t a lot of monetary output,” Allemang said. “I was doing the beads and bevvies, because it was such a hit at first, three times a week. I realized I can’t afford to do it three times a week, so we’re just down to Mondays now.”
Signing up for Highlander Times via Flex closes at 9 a.m., and students cannot change what they want to go to afterwards. This can be an issue if a student changes their mind or gets randomly assigned into an activity they do not want to go to. Because of this, some students feel they should not have to sign up for specific Highlander Times.
Junior Jeffrey Knox feels that instead of two blocks where students have to sign up for one lunch and one Highlander Time session, it should be more flexible.
“It should just be a whole hour where students are able to do anything they want,” he said.
Sometimes, students who feel this way act on it. Some students sign up for activities, then stay in the cafeteria or atrium, either doing work or hanging out with friends. Making this a more official option is something that has been discussed, Whitfield said.
“That’s something we’ve discussed moving into this semester two as being an option for our upperclassmen,” Whitfield said. “I don’t think that we’re ready for that to be something that we allow freshmen that sophomores we do. But something for (upperclassmen) who can manage their time and are doing the right thing – we would still want them to sign up for it, so we are accountable for where you are.”
The issue is not that students are doing this, but rather that there is no way to know where they are if they are not in the Highlander Time activity they signed up for. Whitfield said he has looked into connecting Skyward, where daily class attendance is taken, and Flex Scheduler, where Highlander Time attendance is taken.
“We contacted (Flex Scheduler) to see how we could get Skyward to speak more to Flex and make that a little bit easier for us to take attendance. I’ve also looked into a part of Flex that has a QR code so kids could scan,” he said.
Whitfield said the majority of students are scheduling and going to their Highlander Times, and that on average, only about 20 are not attending their scheduled Highlander Times each day.
“Almost all kids are going to where they need to be. Sure, there are always going to be kids who don’t. It’s been such a small number that we’re meeting with those kids often, making them sign up for certain things,” Whitfield said.
