The Importance of Being on Time

With the bell ringing and the rush of students in the cramped halls, or the rush of trying to get from one class to another, many students at Silver Creek High School suffer from being late.

Being on time to class not only respects your teachers time but adds to the sense of responsibility. Both Students and teachers alike suffer from being tardy and its repercussions.

T Lyndon, a Junior at Silver Creek High School, stated, “Being tardy is very difficult in many ways. You miss part of class and could miss important information as well as it being disruptive to the class. I also play a sport and you are only allowed a certain amount of tardies before being benched,”

Students should almost always be on time. It gives access to better learning opportunities and activities.

Erin Woltkamp, an English teacher at Silver Creek High School, gives a well-phrased explanation of being on time, “Part of high school is learning how to navigate in the world beyond and one of those crucial skills is timeliness.”

Life after high school is defined very differently than what students think. Being late to class might cause someone to be viewed as irresponsible or irritating, but jobs might fire you or schedule you for more time than you’d like.

“It’s like setting a precedent for your work ethic outside of school,” Woltkamp states.

It’s similar to how middle school can help set you up for life in high school. High school can give a lot of useful skills. For example, the Career Elevation & Technology Center (CETC) or Innovation Center (IC) offer a variety of classes that provide future career classes.

From teaching students how to be on time, as well as being on top of their work, school also provides important classes that can help students set up for the future. One of these many classes is the required sophomore course, Personal Financial Literacy. Any class that Silver Creek provides can help teach some useful lessons, whether that be in life or just the classroom. A great example of this is any of Silver Creek’s gym classes.

Gym classes are ones that a lot of students blow off. Tardiness in Gym classes can really affect your grade. Coach Steward Bradly, a gym teacher at Silver Creek High School said, “The highest grade [students] could get is an 80%.”

Take that into consideration, just by receiving tardies, the best grade you can get in a Gym Class is a B-. When you are late to class, you might have a quiz that class period or even a test! While many underestimate the importance of gym classes, they can help build up your stamina both physically and mentally.

Being on time is very important, but sometimes grabbing a very needed coffee in the morning is a must. However, this too has its own consequences.

“It’s like you’re saying your time is more important than your classmates and mine.” Woltkamp states, “It’s as if you’re just flaunting your tardiness.”

Although coffee is sometimes considered a must, some teachers have tea sets in their classrooms.

Attendance is great to keep in mind. Not only will it help you in the future, but it also shows great work ethic and responsibility. From being respectful to your teacher, to staying caught up in class, to even helping build life skills, being able to be somewhere on time is an important skill to have. Especially if you are a student!