Fall break is a time where students like senior Sophie Shepherd gather with friends and family for a long weekend and take a break from school. Although fall break is just two days, students and staff would argue that it’s essential for the school community to take a mental break from the books. Shepherd says having a break from school helps her relieve the stress of school work. 

“I think fall break is important for students because it gives them a break from school and stress,”’ Shepherd said. “It’s a time where I am not worried about tests and all that kind of stuff, and I think it’s really important for kids to have that break.”

Shepherd spent her fall break hanging out with her friends and family, along with a surprise trip to Dallas. Her dad surprised her and her mom with tickets to Dallas to spend the day shopping and to enjoy their time together. She says this one-day trip to Dallas was much needed time spent one on one with her mom.

Having a fall break isn’t just beneficial to students. According to history teacher, Fabrizio Campagnola, having a fall break is necessary for absolutely every school.  He says having a break in school is a time where teachers can relax and work on lesson plans with other teachers. 

“It’s just perfect to give a chance to everybody to reach out and catch up with things,” Campanolga said. “It helps the students and teachers because sometimes we can all get behind in school.”

As a teacher, he says fall break is nice for him because it gives him a chance to work on lesson plans with his other colleagues. 

For many students, including sophomores Brant Stacy and Kenzie Ratcliff, fall break comes with exciting plans. Stacy and his family took a trip to Disney World, while Ratcliff celebrated her 16th birthday all weekend with friends.

“It was super fun,” Ratcliff said. “I didn’t have to be at school and do work on my birthday.” 

Although she says having a birthday during fall break can be relaxing, she also realizes that there were some challenges as well.

“The challenge was that I didn’t get to see all of my friends because they were on vacation.” Ratcliff said. 

Stacy happened to be one of her friends on vacation. He says that his family trip to Disney was the perfect way to spend a much needed break from the stress of school.

“We all need breaks from school,” Stacy said. “It was nice to have a break from the tests and all of the stress.”

Students and teachers attend school about 180 days a year. Having a two day break from school, according to Stacy, is necessary and beneficial to all students and teachers.

“We all need a break from school sometimes,” he said, “especially when the stress becomes too much.”