After four long years of midnight study sessions, stacks of unfinished homework and exhausting school days, high students can finally accept their diplomas and wave goodbye to secondary schooling. However, four years of high school will not ensure the success of students in the future. In order to help students prosper, educational boards of all American states should require two additional years of schooling for high school students.

From freshman to senior year, students rush through introductory courses that “prepare” them for college. From AP Calculus AB to AP European History, NC provides numerous Advanced Placement (AP) classes that schools should require their students to participate in. These additional courses will set students on the path to becoming extremely well-rounded, expanding their experience in the sciences and arts.

“With these two additional years, we can make students continue with the high school courses, requiring them to take even harder classes. Our current NC students aren’t prepared enough to be going on to college or work yet…they definitely need two more years of math and English homework, I think we can all agree on that,” NC principal Matthew Moody said.

For seniors who would have graduated with their last courses being pre-calculus, they will continue to AP Calculus AB. In a six-year curriculum, students should also continue taking science classes, preferably all AP or honors. If students previously took an on-level science course, the school curriculum should require them to retake the class at an honors or AP level to test their progress. 

Students can also broaden their knowledge in other subjects, such as social studies and English, in this two-year period. With nine AP social studies courses to offer at NC, students should fit at least five social studies APs into their new schedule. This can include AP Psychology, AP European History and AP Microeconomics.

Public disagreement has hindered numerous school systems from making the change. Various students disagree entirely with the idea of extending high school for multiple reasons.

“Why would we continue high school? I don’t have time for that. By the time I graduate high school two years from now, I’ll be 20. That’s like the age of current NC super seniors. I don’t need to be in high school in my twenties like them, that’s weird. Also, I just don’t want to have to do two more years of homework,” senior Emilio Medina said.

Students who disagree on extending the required years of high school should acknowledge their bias as young-minded teenagers. They believe that after the age of 18, they should begin college or work full-time. However, these students base these claims on laziness. These students would rather work part-time at McDonald’s and live in their mom’s basement rather than attend high school for an extended time. 

April Fools, you fool!

XOXO,

The Chant