For the past several years, Bob Jones has hosted an “Enrichment Day,” a day meant for learning outside of the classroom. This is done in part because our juniors are required to take the ACT that day. Enrichment Day means that these juniors don’t risk missing classwork to take the test and also offers a half-day or completely off-day for the other grades.

At Bob Jones, students who chose to learn more about serving others rotated through various stations hosted by the Madison Baptist Disaster Relief team and the National Guard. Students learned about tree removal, flood damage, feeding volunteers and victims of disaster relief, and organizing disaster relief efforts. They also had hands-on fun stations provided by the National Guard in the gym in which they could break up the monotony of disaster relief with jousting, football, tug-of-war, a boxing game, and other stations.

Other groups of students toured the Calhoun Community College or the University of Alabama in Huntsville campus and learned about educational opportunities at both institutes.

It seems, though, that most students treat Enrichment Day less as a learning opportunity and more as a day to catch up on homework or spend time with friends. It is treated as a kind of “Mental Health Day” away from classrooms, which is healthy for students, especially with the late Spring Break this year. It offered a good day to breathe and relax between the end of the third nine weeks and the start of the fourth.

In a survey of Bob Jones students, though, respondents were split 50/50 as to whether they were initially excited for Enrichment Day or not. Many of those that answered “no,” however, are juniors. The majority of students grades 9, 10, and 12 answered “yes,” even if they were only excited to be at home that day.

Anaya Chambers, a senior, said that she was excited for Enrichment Day. Her plans for the day are to “probably stay home and sleep” because “[she’s] got senioritis.”

Christian Linder, a sophomore, said that he was not excited for Enrichment Day. His original plans were to attend the AP Psychology study session, which was canceled last week. He said he wanted to attend the study session because “[he’s] procrastinated studying for the AP exam”. He then added, “turns out I’m going to procrastinate.”

In the aforementioned survey, students were asked what, if anything, they would change about Enrichment Day.

Some, like senior Maddy Moe, said that there was little to improve, stating that “I think there are a good amount of options really.”

Others, however, had ideas for how the day could be improved while retaining its purpose as a day of learning. Senior Yunona Shkolnikov said that the school should add a few more options, suggesting “perhaps practice time for extracurricular activities (as long as it doesn’t disturb testing) like theatre kids can be in the auditorium, band kids practice in the band room, maybe sports.”

Junior Lenora Lee, who was required to take the ACT for Enrichment Day, added that “I wish juniors could have a choice whether to take the SAT or the ACT.”

Veering away from changes in Enrichment Day opportunities, senior Aaron Michaels said that he’d improve the sign-up process, explaining that “the sign-up sheet, and the options as a whole, are so vague that it can be overwhelming.”

While students have some ideas as to how to improve some things about Enrichment Day, most, if not all, were grateful for the pause in school work. We’ll have to wait and see if any new options are added next year.

For students who choose to do something off campus, remember to turn in your documentation by March 13. You can turn in your documentation by clicking HERE.