A new program at Bob Jones High School is designed for students to relieve stress, and high schoolers say the Patriot Path is more than just getting out of class.
Every Wednesday students at Bob Jones High get to meet for some time to unwind.
Bob Jones student Alex Clark says, “You just get a break from all the hard rigor and all the hard work we do here at school.” Ping-pong, corn hole, a green house…students get to select from dozens of activities for a 55- minute block. The objective here is to give these students a chance to relax. It’s also a time to connect with other students, faculty, and leaders in the community.
Amy Thaxton, Assistant Principal, explains, “It’s a path that the students get to choose and they get to decide what they learn and what they expand on at that time. The students, they are still having an opportunity to think critically. You’re also in class trying to think about how is this relevant to my life and how can I take this and share it with others.”
Education is in the mix, too. Students who choose to not participate can use the time to make up tests or study.
In the Patriot Path program, classes can change from week to week. A new option WZDX saw was a meme creation class, which falls in the S.T.E.A.M. category. Other offerings are student-led courses, which gives them the opportunity to teach something they are passionate about to their peers.
Each week, the school tries to bring in a guest speaker from the community, like Chris Crumbly with Marshall’s SLS office, who spoke with students about NASA’s Mission to Mars.
Fifteen minutes are taken off classes throughout the day to give students some time to cool-down, be creative and improve communication skills. Alex Clark says, “You look forward to it. You can be like, ‘Hey lets sign up for this event that we can both do together.’”
