As a boarding school and home to students during the school year, the school day officially ends with the last class period at Subiaco Academy, but like any normal home, there are chores and after-school activities keeping the students busy at the college-preparatory boarding and day school.
Headmaster Michael C. Burke said there are two new programs at the school this year.
Students participate in after-school activities two days a week from 3:30-5 p.m. with a teacher or coach. It is mandatory and ensures that students are engaged in worthwhile activities. Some of the activities include photography, soccer, chess, cross-country, choir, tennis, baseball, hiking, ping-pong, Chinese art and football. The types of activities change throughout the year, with more indoor activities during the colder winter months and more outdoor activities during the warmer spring.
The academy also has a jobs program involving all students, who perform daily chores. The program teaches students that work is both necessary and rewarding.
Structured afternoons
“For the boys not in a sport in a season, on Mondays and Wednesdays we have formal activities,” Burke said. “For example, in fall, if they were in football, they did not go to an activity. At the end of each athletic season such as football, basketball and at the end of the year, all the activities change. When football ends, a new group starts playing basketball and all activities change as well.”
This fall, if the students were not involved in athletics, they could choose an activity, such as hiking, joining the quiz bowl team or playing table tennis.
“Everybody went to an activity,” Burke said. “It was kind of an extension of the class day. We felt it made a big difference in getting the boys involved right away, they would hang around with kids with at least one activity in common. They started getting to know one another. Tuesdays and Thursdays they had their own down time. They could play computer games, hang out, but on Mondays and Wednesdays, they had to go to something structured.”
Even the students that live at home participate.
“Part of the school experience is doing different things, trying things they have never done,” Burke said. “In the spring we will have a kayaking group. I am sure we will go back to hiking. In winter it was a more difficult season obviously because of the weather, we had more inside activities going on. Once basketball season is over and the spring activities hit, we will be going back to more outdoor activities.”
School officials felt students active in sports were busy every afternoon, but if the students were not on an athletic team, they had too much free time.
“We tried to get them to the point where we gave them a list of activities and had them choose something they like and do it two afternoons a week,” he said. “We are trying to get kids more involved in what is going on at their school.”
The results are positive.
They have almost no after-school discipline issues, he said.
Reaction from the students has varied, Burke said. Some who are involved in activities they enjoy look forward to the Monday and Wednesday sessions, while others would rather have the time to themselves.
“Philosophically, we believe in the structured activity program,” Burke said. “We believe in the holistic education approach, and this is just one part of it.”
School chores
As part of the jobs program, students take 10 minutes out of every day to perform a chore. The program also involves all students.
The student body is divided into two teams, orange and blue.
“Basically, each boy, day and boarding student, have one chore to do,” Burke said. “It might be to empty the trash in the administrative hallway. It might be to wipe the boards clean in rooms 10 and 12, or to straighten the desk in those two rooms for someone else. They do it every day for one week. They all pitch in and do something.”
At the end of the week, the other team takes over the particular chores.
It promotes community and gives them pride in the place they go to school at and live at, he said.
The headmaster said school officials see fewer papers on the floor now because the students know they are going to have to pick them up.
“It has made it a lot simpler keeping everything neat, clean and orderly,” Burke said. “It may be a real small thing, but it has a fairly substantial impact on our environment.”
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