Tusky administration stops distributing school-issued agendas with the class of 2019.

By Lucy Blue

Many students at Tuscarora High are not simply high school students.  We play other roles in our lives.  We’re athletes, musicians, artists and workers–and because of this; we’re busy.  According to a  survey that pulls from 40 Tuscarora students of various grades, after-school  activities, on average, can gobble up 24+ hours of a student’s week.

One way to keep yourself from drowning in all your work is to keep yourself organized.  Having a planner or agenda makes all that work seem much more possible to complete.  “I find using planners very helpful, not only for homework, but to write down the days I have work or other events planned,” says junior Sophie Aros, a member of DECA, the Tuscarora cross country team, and also a volunteer for multiple organizations out of school.  “I know [StudentVue] provides an online agenda, but it’s not the same as writing [your plans] down and having it without needing wifi,” says Aros.

Sophomore Nicole Sullivan agrees that having a planner or agenda is important when it comes to schoolwork.  “Not having an agenda has affected my school year so far. It’s been more difficult to keep track of assignments when I can’t write them all down in one place,” says Sullivan.

Tuscarora stopped distributing school-issued agendas last year, with the class of 2019, 76% of whom surveyed admitted to missing having school issued planners in middle school.  Because the students “weren’t using them, and were losing them,” according to Tuscarora vice principal Mr. Justin Martin, “we decided, in order to utilize our funds and to take advantage of the BYOT program, to use agendas virtually.” The money from these agendas has been going towards more technology for students without personal devices for class activities, such as the Kindles offered in the library.  “We can give back to the students in a way that will help them more than the agendas did,” says Mr. Martin.

Sophomore Clare Tallamy recognizes that, “although I use my agenda a lot, I know that about 90% of students probably weren’t using them, a lot of students here use their phones because it’s more convenient.  So I understand [the decision to stop issuing agendas],” says Tallamy.
Therefore, although students benefit from using a planner, the pros of getting rid of school-issued agendas outweighed the cons, and students have found that buying their own personal planners helps them just as much–if not more–than the school agendas did.  “I feel more organized, and I can decorate my planner and I have room for all the notes I need to write down.  I know where everything in my planner is, and it’s easier for me to use than [the school-issued agendas],” said Tallamy.