JanTerm assumes ultimate form in YearTerm [Satire]
Having been elected the next upper school interim principal, Jim Justice has recently announced his newest project that builds upon the indubitable triumph of JanTerm, an initiative he has dubbed YearTerm.
“Imagine everything you loved about JanTerm, and now imagine that for every minute of every hour of every day for the entire year,” said Justice. “That’s YearTerm! Do I really have to say any more?”
Just as JanTerm strived to emphasize the real-life applications of learning, YearTerm looks to continue this effort on a larger scale.
“In my opinion, modern day learning has been ruined by the pointless desire to teach unnecessary skills, such as math, reading, and writing,” said Keith Evans, president of the school. “To compensate for that, YearTerm overlooks those unimportant abilities in search of more applicable skills, like designing wearable electronics or uncovering the chemical composition of lasagna. It really takes the whole idea of 21st century learning to the next level.”
Upon hearing the news, which Justice doled out with the same enthusiasm as he would for the Tree Cat Day, many students rejoiced to hear that the drudgery of the normal curriculum was replaced by the excitement of an education that provides students with insight into the workings of the real world.
“I can’t wait to finally learn about something that I actually care about and will actually have to use later on in life,” said junior Jamie Pastan. “I have $200 riding on my fantasy team this year, and thanks to the Mathematics of Fantasy Sports class I plan on taking during YearTerm, I can actually hone the necessary skills to draft the best team and win the championship this year. My parents will finally be proud of me!”
Additionally, Justice hopes to utilize the massive amounts of time that YearTerm provides to even further build upon the JanTerm culture of travel and exploration.
“I’ve been secretly tapping the Westminster Endowment for years, and now that I’ve finally accumulated sufficient funding and that means one thing: unlimited buses!” said Justice. “We’ve got so many buses we don’t even know what to do with them all! No, seriously, if anyone has any good ideas on how to use all these buses please let me know. All ideas are appreciated.”
Above all, Justice’s brainchild holds the most promise for the newly adapted concept of one its already most prized components: community time.
“There are no two words I like to hear more in tandem than ‘community’ and ‘time,’” Justice said. “And now that we have so much time on our hands, I have allotted specific days to be solely devoted to community time. Just envisioning the hours of consecutive PLARTS periods gives me goose bumps, and the simple thought of students spending all day huddled on the benches outside of Askew wasting their lives really and truly warms my heart. I honestly believe community time to be my biggest accomplishment yet, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for it during YearTerm.”
Just as it was during JanTerm, community time is being hailed by students and teachers alike for its revolutionary nature and sheer brilliance, truly helping bring the community closer together.
“I can think of nothing that this school needs more right now than community time,” said Reverend Ricardo Bailey. “Without a doubt, we are now one step closer towards achieving our goal of becoming a beloved community.”