January 16

Persuasive

Erika Carey

ELA 30-2 

11/28/2019

Ms. Hunnisett 

Persuasive Letter 

 

Dear Prosper School Board, 

 

  I am currently writing you and the behalf of the idea of the betterment of my and many other children’s education. Something that, if you hear me out, you can spearhead this as a demonstration for other schools around the world. My name is Alex Wells and I’m currently enrolled in grade twelve at Prosper High School, it has come to my attention that a four day school week could be introduced, I think this could be a game changer because it would give children the chance that we need to maintain our studies, aid our sleep schedules, and keep up with homework among a multitude of other prospects involving the community. 

 

    Researchers have shown that children and teenagers need at least eight hours of sleep per night and teenagers specifically, need more sleep than most age groups because our bodies are growing. According to a Philips Study in 2016 cutting your sleep by even one hour will cut your body’s alertness by ⅓ leaving you in an unhappy state, along with the fact that catching up on sleep during the weekends disrupts our entire sleep cycle because of our body having problems with consistency. Highschoolers especially need that extra day to rejuvenate because of the workload of high school and how it can get a bit hectic at times and that can leave an individual to become riddled with anxiety and numerous other mental health issues. There is a highly regarded notion of the connection between sleeping and learning and sleep deprivation is a major problem because of balancing school, homework, and if you participate in an extracurricular activity. A busy schedule creates a busy body, and busy bodies don’t typically sleep nearly enough as they should and introducing the four day school week would certainly help. 

 

  Financially it would also be beneficial, cutting back numbers on the budget by a few thousand. In the current five day week we spend around $63,000 on operations, $47,000 on maintenance and a staggering $80,000 on transportation. These numbers could be cut back by a noticeable few thousand without even damaging the school systems or taking money out of programs that exist at the school. With the four day school week we look at $58,000 in operations, $43,000 in maintenance, and an impressive drop to $65,000 for transportation. This gives us and extra $24,000 extra that no programs had to be cut in order to attain. 

 

  Another group who would enjoy the benefits of this cutback would be the community and the teachers, because of the extra time it would a lot for planning and being around the people you love and wish to surround yourself with. Teachers would be able to gain an extra day in order to get more time to prepare and prep for their classes, in fact 92% of the Prosper High School Staff voted in favour of the four day weeks more than likely with the idea behind them that it would gift them that extra couple hours to make their lessons so much better so that way the kids would learn better. Then give the teachers a sense of pride, because what better of a feeling is it than when you can put the work you into the world and feel proud of it? No teacher wants to rob a student of a good understanding of the material they are teaching them but if they feel rushed and students aren’t understanding the material because the teacher needs more time, that is unfair to everyone involved. The community would benefit because that would be access to a large space with supply of helpful resources, “We will be able to schedule more Friday activities and attract more volunteers,” Owner of Moms and Tots, Dorthy Miller has said. Their is so much potential good to be done in the idea of having a four day school week with advantages that we don’t even fully understand yet. 

 

 So keeping in mind the amount of people and different groups this would affect, please consider this because for a High School student, if I was given the gift of being able to study for a test for three days rather than two I would jump at the offer. And others would gain access to our space helping out the community, it would even free up a good chunk of money to put towards the school as well and the added bonus that programs wouldn’t have to be cut in order to get said money. So I ask you to consider these factors when making your decision and I thank you for hearing me out. 

 

Sincerely, 

Alex Wells 

Category: Erika, Sept 2019 | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 16

Persuasive for a 4 Day School Week

Dear Prosper School Board,

          My name is Alex Wells and I am a current grade 12 student in Prosper High School. I have noticed that the board is considering a proposal to adopt a four-day school week from Monday to Thursday. From gathering information through various sources, I think that it would be a great idea to accept the proposal. Throughout the years of being in Prosper High School, I have heard from friends and other people that they are spending too much time on homework and projects to the point that they barely get any sleep. This causes them to be really tired in the mornings of school. I believe accepting this proposal would be great for students and staff, because it may help everyone if they focus better if they weren’t tired through the week days.

 

          As a senior, I have noticed that our technology in this school is starting to get outdated compared to other schools, and also understand about Prosper School’s current budget towards our maintenance, power and operations. If we were to adopt the four day school week, it would save more budgets of the school which we could use to get better technologies for students such as computers and supplies. From looking at the current graph and looking at the predicted values of the projected costs, we would save a total of 24 thousand dollars. This money could be used to further modernize this school, and will not cause any panic when it reaches a point that the school doesn’t have sufficient funds to continue. Students will also be able to participate more in outside school activities, such as the Prosper Youth Centre programs. These programs allow students to relax and have fun with others during the day, which can help them get back into focus on school days.

 

          Parents and some students find it troubling that kids may just stay home or how scheduling may affect certain activities. “I want my kid in school Mon to Fri when I’m at work, not in front of the TV all day. The thought of unsupervised Fridays off gives me nightmares!” Parents may also share the same opinion as this one, but remember that there are also activities that also happen outside of school that an individual can get interested, such as hanging out with friends, or joining the Prosper Youth Programs that is being offered in regards to a four-day school week. This also gives the individual an opportunity to volunteer towards other programs that can help improve our community. If parents also worry that their child may not like the idea of outside activities, they can also refer to the website www.costlinetravel.com, which provides information on three day vacations that can lure them away from distracting items such as television or gaming.

 

          From a recent poll website fast poll, High School Staff seemed to want a four day school week, to relax or even plan for their next lessons on a Monday. Monica Pham, a math teacher, had displayed information that the idea of a four-day week allows them more time to plan and prepare for lessons, as well as the statistic that students attend their classes more on four-day weeks compared to five-day weeks.  This statistic benefits both the school and students, as it allows students more free time to hang around with friends and teachers some time to relax and plan carefully for their next lesson. According to the Academic Journal in 2016, it has stated that teens must have sufficient sleep in order to focus properly, and just by reducing sleep can cause them to drop mental alertness. Students normally have to wake up around 6-7 Am to get to school, and considering that some students sleep at around 10 Pm – 12Am, they only get around 6-9 hours of sleep. An extra day means they would be able to catch up on their sleep as they would receive an extra 2-3 hours, which could help them focus better on their studies.

          Prosper School should really accept the proposal of the four-day week, as it would really save school budgets which could be used to improve students learning through modern technology. This would also involve more student activities to outside programs, and increase their attendance in schools. Without this proposal, students would end up being tired in class, but reducing the days of school would give them one day to relax and spend more time with friends and family. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my arguments in the letter and take these facts to make your final decision towards the proposal. If you want any more information or any questions, you may contact my email, Alex.W@gmail.com. I can’t wait to hear your decision whether to accept or reject the proposal.

Category: Miguel, Sept 2019 | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 12

Persuasive Letter- Four Day Week

Dear Prosper School Board,

 

My name is Alex Wells and I am a grade twelve student at Prosper High School. I am writing to you today in regards to the new school system that is being proposed for adopting a four-day school week. I choose to reject this idea. The reason as to why I have objection towards this is because school is a place where students need to get the most help and learning opportunities as possible, especially those who are on the verge of becoming an adult.

 

Many parents of students in this high school are against this issue. Parents believe in the success of their child and have made very well thought out decisions before responding. According to fastpoll.com, 64% of the parents have said no towards adopting a four-day school week. If a four-day school week system is adopted, there might be other commitments that come in the way for parents. If students do not have school on a Friday, parents can be worried about their children if they are home alone. They might be unable to make time off for their children due to their work rules and restrictions. Having a five day school week can also have one less worry for parents to deal with as school is intended to be a safe place. There are many staff members operating the school so that students have a safe environment to learn in. Having an extra day of school can increase maintenance, operation, and transportation fees. Despite this, there is a huge percentage of parents who are still rejecting to have a four-day week. It signifies that parents are able to afford to send their kids to school and hence financial reasons will not hinder their child in achieving the best education possible. Furthermore, this also increases productivity in students as they will avoid procrastination and instead be more motivated to get their homework done on Friday so that they can relax on the weekend.

 

 The purpose of school is to prepare students for the future. In post-secondary, students will have to attend lectures and prepare for exams from Monday-Friday. Adopting a four-day week in high school can make it very difficult for students to be able to transition into a university schedule. According to the revised time table, it shows that Prosper High School is willing to be more flexible and make adjustments to their schedule. However, time tables should aim to be an exact replica of what students will face in the future when it comes to jobs and university. Having longer hours in a day will lead to inefficiency in a student. This can cause time delays. Research indicates that the brain can only stay productive for a certain amount of hours in a day. Having a longer schedule can lead to a lack of sleep as students would be up very late working on homework or studying for tests. It can lower academic grades. I have a friend who attends a charter school which is quite far away from her house. I asked her about her opinion in regards to adopting a four-day school week. She mentioned that if her school proposed this issue, she would be strongly against it due to time constraints. It takes her an hour on the bus in order to get to and from school. If the school schedules are extended, she would automatically lose an hour on the bus and end up getting home very late. She said that her overall school performance would decrease as she would be very tired the next day. In order to make the school schedule more feasible, it would be ideal to create a schedule that would be about eight hours from Monday to Thursday. Friday can be shorter. This way, students can be more disciplined and productive and also have half the day off so that they are able to also spend time with their friends and family. 

 

There are many staff members in this school who are accepting this proposal of having a four-day week. They have backed up their reasoning by stating that it will give them extra time to plan and prepare their teaching material. I think that it can still be possible to have this and a five day week also. Prosper High School can create yearly academic calendars so that they can have a professional development day at least once or twice a month. A five-day week can also create more holidays for students and planning time for teachers. Many schools that have a five-day week, ensure that their school can have a fall break. In other schools, fall break is normally a week-long during the month of October. Students and teachers would get seven days off. Having some professional development days and a week off for fall break can accommodate teacher’s requests in having extra time to plan their curriculum and have better teaching methods for students. This would be a very good idea that can be proposed to Prosper High School as students will have more time to learn and seek help from teachers and weekends where they get “rewarded” for working hard in school. 

 

Having a five-day school week would be a better alternative as parents will be able to balance their schedules, have an effective time table so that students are more disciplined, and creating a better yearly calendar so that both students and teachers are satisfied. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my letter and I hope that you take my reasoning into consideration. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me by email, alex.wells@gmail.com, or phone and leave a message at (403)-123-4567. 

 

Yours SIncerely,

 

Alex Wells

 

Alex Wells

 

Category: Alisha, Sept 2019 | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 10

Persuasive Letter

Aafreen Bhanji

ELA 30-2 

November 28, 2019

Dear Prosper School Board,

My name is Alex Wells, and I am a Grade 12 student currently attending Prosper High School. I am writing to you today to persuade you to accept the proposal for a four-day school week at prosper High School. Having a shorter school week means that parents, students, and staff will benefit. Even though some do not agree, the majority believe that having a four-day week will help everyone in some way.

Having a four-day school week could open up many volunteering opportunities. Since the school would be empty on Fridays, the space could be used for other clubs and activities. In the Prosper Community News there is an article that talks about how community groups see the benefit of having a four-day school week. It states “We will be able to schedule more Friday activities and attract more volunteers.” This shows that by the school not having classes on Friday, students will be able to volunteer at local groups and participate in more activities. If students are able to volunteer more, they will gain more experience in helping others and contributing to society.

Although having a four-day school week is good, some argue that it will ruin the sleeping cycle of students. According to the Academic Journal, having a day off every week will affect the sleeping schedule of students which will result in them performing badly in school. The source says, “Attempting to catch up on weekends and days off actually disrupts sleep cycles even more because the body is not allowed to maintain a consistent sleep cycle.” This shows that having short week will change the students performance in school and change the way they act. Parents do not agree with having a four day school week. According to FastPoll.com, 64% of parents voted no to having a short school week. Kristina Oudet, a parent, commented, “I want my kid in school Mon to Fri when I’m at work, not in front of the TV all day. The thought of unsupervised Fridays off gives me nightmares!” This shows that parents are concerned for their children’s habits when they have a day off and how they would rather have them be at school.

Having a short school week would benefit the teachers very much. According to FastPoll.com, 82% of teachers voted yes to having a four-day school week which shows that teachers would enjoy having a long weekend every week. Paul Meyer, a teacher at Prosper High School, commented, “Long weekend every weekend! More time to spend with friends and an extra shift at work.” This supports the idea that teachers also need a break from school and having and extra day off can help them recover from the week and plan lessons more effectively. This is shown in the presentation to the school board made by Monica Pham which shows the educational advantages of the four-day school week. For example, “ Four-day weeks create more time for teacher planning and preparation” and “One weekday off enables scheduling of appointments for staff and students that do not interfere with the school day.” This shows that by having a shorter week, teachers and students can balance their personal lives with their school lives by having an extra day off. 

I believe that the Prosper School Board should accept the proposal for having a four-day school week. Having a four-day school week will help students in volunteering more, and it will allow teachers and students to maintain their educational and personal lives. Although it may affect the sleeping cycles of students, it will help them to recover when they need to and make them more experienced in volunteering and allow teachers to be more prepared in their lessons. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and I hope that my words were enough to convince you to accept the proposal. If you want to ask any further questions about my reasoning and opinion about the proposal, you can email me at alex.wells@gmail.com or you can call me at 403-123-4567.

Sincerely,

Alex Wells

Category: Aafreen, Sept 2019 | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 10

Segregated Gender-Core Classes- Persuasive Letter

Dear The Prosper School Council:

I am a recent graduate of Prosper High School, and I am writing to you today about a proposal of whether or not to separate students by gender in core courses. I hope that you, as the Prosper School Board, will choose to reject this proposal.  

The proposal is to have segregated gender core classes, which would mean that all males and females would take separate classes such as English, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Science. However, the option classes, such as Physical Education, Drama, Choir, Art, and Woodworking would stay co-ed- mixed females and males. Accepting this proposal may lead to higher academic average and higher graduation rate, which will also assist in limiting the behavioral issues between the two genders. Although there are advantages in accepting the proposal, it can lead to difficulties in the future for the two genders when they have to work together in workplaces. Again, we hope that you will not accept this proposal because in the future, males and females will be unable to confidently present their talents in presence of the opposite gender; there will be a lack of respect for opposite genders, due to gender stereotypes; and there will be lack of acceptance in recognizing the individuals who do not associate with either gender.

Firstly, there should not be segregated gender classes because if males are only comfortable with males, and females are only comfortable with females, then in the future, they will struggle to be confident in their capabilities. Simon Hamilton, a citizen, has stated that although having separate gender classes will help males and females learn better, it will also create a barrier for them as they may be unable to use those talents due to the awkwardness of being around the opposite gender. This is true; if males do only learn with males while females do only learn with females, then it will be difficult to move away from that shell around them. Both males and females will think that they are successful if they are separate, but what about in the future? There will be times when males and females will have to work together, such as in many careers. That is when both genders will hesitate to express their opinions or ideas to the opposite gender; it would not be their fault, but rather it would be appropriate to blame those who have encouraged this gender separation. Therefore, I believe that males and females should not be separated, as in the future, they are going to struggle to be comfortable with the opposite gender; this will result in them being insecure of communicating with each other at a safe and confident level.

Second, having separate gender classes will result in a lack of respect for the opposite gender, as well as it will create gender stereotypes. Mona Robertson, another citizen, says that males will behave immaturely if they are surrounded with males; however, if there are girls around, then males will act maturely. This is true, because if males are only surrounded with males, then they are only going to acquire the characteristics of showing respect to males. Many males may not have a sister, or a close female relative, which would cause them not to have respect for females. At times, males may even feel that they are better than girls, which would result in gender stereotypes. In addition to this, Dev Sharma, a parent has also shown concerns of having separate core classes by gender, believing that it would do more harm than good; he believes that there could be harmful stereotypes of girls and boys. This is a concern for many families, as teachers believe that girls should be taught in a calm voice, whereas males should be taught in a loud voice; having these stereotypes will hinder upon the realistic way of dealing with males and females. Females and males should not be taking separate core classes because both genders will not learn how to respect one another, which would cause them to feel superior over the other gender.

Lastly, accepting this proposal will prevent certain individuals who do not associate with one of these two genders in feeling lack of acceptance. This is an issue because although there is an overall academic average of 82% at Arthur Andrew’s Boys Academy, 84% at Mary Clements All-Girls School, these schools are focusing on academics and not acceptance. It is vital that students are able to learn in a safe environment, where they feel belonged with everyone. By not having co-ed for each core class and option, individuals who are neither female nor male due to birth conditions or their own choice, are not being provided with the acceptance that they should be receiving. If there are segregated gender core classes, there should be specially designed schools for these individuals so there is equality among everyone. Having separate education by gender will not only create a gender disparity, but it will also contribute to lack of acceptance and belonging.

Again, I firmly believe in my opinion for not accepting this proposal of having separate core classes by gender; this is because both males and females are going to struggle in the future of being confident in their abilities; there will be a lack of respect for the opposite gender due to gender stereotypes; and there will be a lack of acceptance for certain individuals. These reasons make it evident that choosing to reject this proposal is the solid option overall. Thank you for your time and consideration on this issue.

Sincerely,

Terry Reid

Terry Reid

Category: Arhum, Sept 2018 | LEAVE A COMMENT