Night at the high school

The final bell echoes through the hallways. Slowly the buzzing of conversation begins to build as hundreds of students stream out of classrooms and make their way home.

Yet for some, the rigor of academics doesn’t come to an end with that ring.

Every Thursday from 4-9 pm night school is hosted at Northview High School, the focus of this evening is math and science. This five hour period is run by two teachers and attended by AP students, people who need help with classes, as well as students from the East Campus who are earning credits and working on online courses.

“Mr. Dickerson came up with the idea as offering math night at the high school so we could service both kids from the high school and the East Campus,” science teacher James Haveman said.

When night school originally moved to the high school from East Campus the majority of students attending were from the East campus, yet once it was advertised, more and more students from the high school began to attend.

Students have found positive results from extra help and the environment and have made it a habit to attend.

“Some kids have made it part of their schedule that every Thursday night they come to night school,” Haveman said. “It’s like a college library there are no distractions. They are there just to work on their studies.”

Night school is not an isolating work space.  Students work together and collaborate on homework just as much as the teachers assist them.

“It’s is definitely not dead silent in there, there are a lot of conversations happening and you get opportunities to talk about information,” math teacher Matt Coty said. “Some students just enjoy being able to talk the stuff out.”

The atmosphere of night school varies from one you may find in a classroom. The students who attend get a new level added to learning, such as getting one on one help from teachers and collaboration with other students, this benefits more aspects than solely academic.

“It forces collaboration, which is good for students because it helps them see how others may attack a problem or look at them,” junior Austin Vander Weg said. “Also it helps us  to say our thoughts out loud which leads to deeper understanding.”

Aside from being an excellent resource for getting academic help and building an education, Haveman and Coty strive to prepare students for college and give them unique experiences. These include group dinners, ice cream nights, and a recent opportunity to volunteer at a local soup kitchen.

Creating a community within night school introduces students to others they may have never connected with before, yet many have more in common than they may realize.

“We get good kids in there who really care. There are a lot of kids in this school who really care about what they’re doing and night school reminds us of that,” Coty said.

Whether people attend because they work during the day or because they were struggling to understand their pre calc homework, night school is a place where students come together to collaborate and use available resources.

“Everyone there is trying to get their education and are eager to learn. I think that it is amazing how you have such a wide range of students, but everyone is there for the same purpose,” Vander Weg said.