Once the clock hit 2:00 PM on June 9, 2022, the adventures of the 2021-22 school year came to a long-awaited end. Yearbooks signed, goodbye hugs given, and lasting memories made, the students of PPCHS were ready for the peaceful, refreshing, and stress-free summer ahead of them. But when being stress-free is the summer mentality, shouldn’t classic novels and math packets be left in the school year? Or do they actually fit in the picture more than we think?

   From practicing art to analyzing literature, a majority of PPCHS students found themselves struggling to balance summer work with the fun experiences that summer is known to bring. While reading can be a relaxing hobby and having a headstart to a course never hurts, the practicality of summer assignments is constantly put into question. Many students have strong feelings about whether they’re worth doing, and were happy to share their thoughts.

“My mindset of summer break is to be free from school, but when work is assigned over the break that thought of freedom just disappears… and honestly I start to slowly lose my excitement for the next school year. To me, the words just don’t go together, ‘summer’ and ‘assignment’. Once I hear anything about reading, a book report, or project that is assigned over the summer, I personally feel so burned out and annoyed because of how much writing I’ve already done throughout the whole school year… it just burdens me while I’m in my school-free summer mood.” –Freshman Sahana Lonsdale Richards

“I personally don’t really mind summer assignments as long as the only requirement is to read a book for English or something like that. The books [teachers] assign us are usually good, so I enjoy reading them. Otherwise I feel like it makes me worry too much throughout the summer…” –Sophomore Diedra Pabon

“While our school does almost always gives us summer work each year, I don’t see a problem with not having it… I understand it’s important to be on your feet a little at least academically but what is the point of summer work when at the end of the day most kids will just do it the week before… I felt really concerned for my best friend because of the amount of AICE classes she was taking and the summer work she was drowning in. Yet when I would check on her, she herself said that she would just push it to the last minute. Summer work can enforce these bad habits, [making] us already get into the habit of procrastinating, rather than just being productive. I don’t see why it would be a bad thing to just not get any.” –Sophomore Zoe Porcia

“I think that summer work is too much, especially when teachers overload kids with work without considering that they have other summer work as well. The break should be a break.” –Junior Emily Brown

“[My assignments] got a little overwhelming because of all my personal activities scheduled throughout the summer, but some of them were fairly helpful, especially my AP Photo class. Having to complete so many drawings forced me to put the practice in and increase my skills.” –Junior Morgan Taylor

“I feel like my work this summer was fairly reasonable. There was one packet for AP Physics C, one book to read and annotate for AICE Lit A Level, and 35 sketches for AP Drawing… And while I do feel like [other assignments are] excessive, I also feel like summer homework is beneficial in moderation. It keeps education fresh (somewhat) in your mind if you do it slowly, and gives you a bit of a refresher if you procrastinate.” –Senior Matthew Castillo

“I don’t like the concept of assigning work to students in the summer. I know that there’s students who have to worry about getting their summer assignments done when they just completed a full 10 months of school. I feel like summer should be a period of student rest. This doesn’t mean this period won’t be productive. Many students have summer jobs, travel, or even spend the whole summer practicing for their sport like how I did. Students work hard during the year and I believe we deserve and earn a school free summer.” –Senior Christopher Palomino