The first intersession break ever took place Oct. 4-15,  and everyone came away with a different experience and different reactions. Many returned even more tired than when they left. Others used the intersession to complete missing work to pass their classes.

“The principal should allow students to feel relaxed and more active in school, as it is also important not to feel stressed with studies or jobs,” senior Demian Enriquez said.

 Students got used to the pace during quarantine and it’s difficult to come back to face-to-face classes. The intersession helped by providing a break. Some used that time to work extra hours and earn more pay.

“The truth is that work sucks my energy and I lost a lot of weight. So when I go to school, I don’t go in with 100 percent energy, since I have to save some (energy) for work,” Enriquez said.

During the break, teachers helped students who were failing or had incomplete work. 

“I had to come to school during the vacation because I failed the English STARR test and they told me to come from tutoring, so I can pass in December,” sophomore Angel Ontiveros said.

The English STARR test will take place in December for students who failed. Teachers use intersession  to prepare students to pass the test because this test is a requirement to graduate.

“The school calendar has changed, so they are going to give an intersession every year. It’s good that they use this time to help students who fail the STARR test. Before, they just had the month of June to be prepared for the test and now they have more time to study,” principal Antonio Acuña said.

Still, the opportunity to leave the city was there and some took advantage of that.

“Our family went to Cancun beach and it was fun because there weren’t a lot of people. We stayed almost the entire day on the beach and it was relaxing,” senior Yara Garcia said.

School consumes a lot of time, intersession helps students spend more time with family. Some students’ parents are in Mexico and the intersession allowed a visit.

“Every day I have to come to school and because of this, I have to stay In El Paso. During this break I have the opportunity to go to Juarez, I watch movies with my family and spend more time with them,” Ontiveros said.

Some students want to take intersession one step further.

“They should recompense students with a break, for example, if we have 95 percent of attendance in the 9 weeks they give us a week of break, so students come more motivated and ready to learn and be more active during school,” senior Karla Garcia said.