Addressed To Mr. Todd Eistetter

LET'S MAKE CHANGE

As the students at St. Joseph High School, you have the right to have your voices heard. You have the right to convey the damage removing 3rd/GCL block will do to your education. You have the right to express your desire to keep St. Joseph and 3rd/GCL block the same. Click below to learn more about this cause, how the changes being implemented are detrimental, and how you can support the movement.

What People Think

"I want GCL to stay why should the innocent ones suffer for the students who don’t listen or follows the rules; it actually unfair to us the students who take GCL seriously because we know how to use our time wisely and we need help from our teachers people like us come to school every single day and get help for the help desk and GCL blocks really help us with that so please reconsider your decisions again before finalizing it. - Khadijah Conteh

Why

At St. Joseph High School, the block after lunch known as 3rd or GCL block has been an essential part of students' learning. This block provides students with an opportunity to come to teachers for help and guidance on school work. This is extremely beneficial for students in the GCL format of schooling as they are not allotted much class time for homework. GCL students also take advantage of 3rd/GCL blocks to have more time for tests, something in which many students are reliant on. GCL students also use 3rd/GCL block as an opportunity to do labs which otherwise they may not have time for. For students within the TCL structure of learning, 3rd/GCL blocks are the only time they have to do homework during the day at school. All students benefit from the 3rd/GCL block as it is an opportunity to get advice from a teacher other than their CA. This is necessary for some students as they may require a different perspective when it comes to their learning. For teachers within TCL, the 3rd/GCL block may be the only time they have to help students who are not in their courses. For some students, having access to these teachers is extremely important. For students who are in clubs that occur during lunch, the 3rd/GCL block is time for them to eat lunch and get a bit of a break in their day. The 3rd/GCL block is a fundamental part of students' education at St. Joseph high school.The 3rd/GCL block is a large part of what makes St. Joseph different. It is a key thing advocated to students who are looking at going to St. Joseph high school during the open house and school presentations. This difference within the school structure is the reason why so many students come to St. Joseph for their schooling.The vice principals and principal at St. Joseph High school, led by principal Todd Eistetter, are stripping the 3rd/GCL block from the students. They are taking the hour of time which normally belongs to the 3rd/GCL block and splitting it between the other blocks in the school day making classes longer. Approximately 24 minutes longer. They are making blocks which students would barely be able to handle as they are much longer. This extra time will not be used effectively as the students will be so tired of learning that their focus will wither. That 24 minutes of extra time in class provides minimal advantage to students compared to an entire hour where students can work on whatever they feel is most important.

Why Support Us?

Our Reasons

Learn more about our passion for this cause, and the detrimential effects these changes will have on St. Joesph Catholic High School.

Student Fatigue

Longer Blocks

Longer blocks will not only increase student fatigue, but put a damper on marks and student success, as productivity starts to drop off towards the end of the block. Longer blocks also mean an increased cognitive load on teachers, leading to less engaging lessons and content as fatigue increases throughout the day.

Difficult Student Scheduling

Less Total Blocks

Removing 4 blocks per week that are usually reserved as floor time for both TCL and GCL students. Makes scheduling tests, labs, and 1:1 support time for students exponentially more difficult. This was a key selling point for St. Joseph during the open houses, and allowed for greater student success, removing this block, especially for the new grade 9's, which have lacking core subject skills due to covid, and can make use of the extra support time. The flexibility of the unique program offered by St. Joes, made possible by a five block schedule, has decreased overall student stress levels, making our school one of the best environments for learning in the city (based on popular opinion).

No Buffer Time

Increased Fatigue

For most students, the third block is a time to slow down for a bit, do independent work, and process the morning's classes. It's also an integral chance to prepare for the afternoon's classes. For CTS courses, removing the third block gives no prep time or time to relax a bit before/after a two-block CTS class, which is physically/mentally demanding and often requires constant mental clarity and sharpness, for not only their own personal safety, but the safety of other students, in the case of Culinary Arts and Baking.

Help The Movement

How Can I help?

For the best chance of success, we need the most traction possible. Signatures are paramount; they show support and unity of a shared issue. Signing and sharing to make this petition known is the quickest and easiest way to have a lasting effect on St. Joes History. To go even further, have your parents sign the petition, and email Mr. Todd Eistetter expressing their concerns. Testimony is also important, as it gives backing to why third block should stick around. Please forward any testimony from both current and former St. Joseph Students to [email protected].

Contact

Get In Touch

We're excited you want to get in touch, if you have opportunities for publicity, or something to offer, please, leave us an email using the button below ([email protected]), or shoot us a text message.

Thank you

if you made it this far, i'm matthew, or as most know me: matt, the president of the Save GCL Movement, along with my core teammates: abby, kayla, and jonel. i also have an awesome team behind this movement and they have been instrumental to the publicity and success of this entire operation. this issue is very near and dear to my heart, as the GCL program at St. Joseph is the sole reason that has allowed me to start and maintain a career as an enterprise devops engineer, at 16 years old. and i would love to see future students see the same success ive seen. so thank you, for your support.