While the traditional notion of a class includes pencils, desks, and erasers, maybe it is time to revise that “textbook” definition to include classes without textbooks and allow antsy athletes a period to practice their sport during the school day. Many students at CHS are on sports teams, and with sports there come practices after school; however, with limited space on campus, there is not much time for all sports to practice at the same time in areas which multiple sports use. Countless sports teams are currently forced to share their practice space with other sports by cutting their practices shorter. It seems now that there is never enough time for sports teams to get a full practice. A possible solution for sports teams with this issue is to give them a class period of their own.

Many students do not know that color guard has a class period that is dedicated to their sport. The period is structured around practicing technique and routines for their competitions, and having a class period of their own lets the team be very productive and focused on their sport, which results in better competition scores. Members from the team, like sophomore Cindy Be, are very appreciative of the class period and its advantages.

“I feel that having a class period dedicated to color guard is very beneficial because it gives us time to ask the captains any questions about counts and lets us perfect our work so that it looks good,” Be said. “Periods help everyone look nice and sharp for competition while also getting the opportunity of having homework days once in a while.”

While maintaining regular practice schedules after school, adding a class period can benefit some of the sports teams at CHS, such as basketball. Having to share the gym with the color guard team and others, basketball is limited on practice time. With the solution of adding a class period, basketball can make up the time they lose from their after school practices during class. JV basketball team member and freshman Sy’Rai Houston thinks that having a period during the school day to practice would be helpful for her team.

“Having a class period of our own would be very beneficial for the team because it would help us practice our communication in the game when passing the ball and staying focused,” Houston said. “If given the chance, I would want to make a class period happen not only for basketball [and color guard], but for other sports as well.”

Having a class period like this is a lot more common than most people think; most high schools have classes that are dedicated to an extracurricular activity such as marching band, color guard, or cross-country. Great Oak High School’s cross-country team has their own class period, which could have been a factor in their second-place performance at nationals this past season.

Sports classes would enable CHS sports teams to get extra pratice time during the school day and allow for upperclassmen without a PE period to get energy out in order to be able to focus on their academic classes. Class periods are meant for learning, and if given the chance, athletes at CHS could use the period to develop a better understanding of their sport as well as improve their skills or fitness. Although a 51-minute class period may seem like a meager excuse for a training session to some, for CHS athletics, it could mean the difference between being proficient in most sports (and exceptional in a few) and being an Inland Empire and CIF Southern Section powerhouse.