TOWAMENCIN – In a high school as populated as North Penn, creating an environment that strengthens the relationship between students and faculty can be a challenge. The weekly program called Knight Time was designed by North Penn administrators to better accommodate the needs of the school, however the new program has generated a multitude of opinions from both students and faculty.

Knight Time is currently in its third year. It was first introduced as a monthly meeting during the 2016-2017 school year to aid in school safety and evacuation procedures. Knight Time was later incorporated into the bell schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays in order to create more of an advisory period.

“We thought it was important to get sophomores acclimated to the school, to get juniors ready for a career route, and helping seniors with college applications and life after high school,” explained NPHS principal Pete Nicholson.

Knight Time serves a specific purpose depending on the day of the week. Tuesday Knight Time allows students to complete homework or meet with teachers. Knight Time on Thursdays consists of different activities each week including class meetings, information about fundraisers, and videos from NPTV.

“We hit other topics that we think are important and are not necessarily covered in other curriculum in the school…There are important things all students should know, but there was no time in the school day to get that information out,” said principal Pete Nicholson regarding the purpose of Thursday Knight Time.

Each grade level completes different activities each Thursday, resulting in a wide range of opinions from students. Some enjoy the break in the day that Knight Time provides, while others believe Knight Time can be revised.

“I think the Tuesday Knight Times can be useful for students to work on academics or seek help from teachers, but I find the Thursday activities could easily be deemed unnecessary,” said sophomore Jillian Shelly.

Link Crew leaders and teachers complete certain team building activities with students and some find it difficult to gain a positive response.

“I am a link crew leader and I try to reach out to the sophomores, but they do not respond,” remarked junior Caitlin Rismiller.

A solution to the issue of lack of participation from students during Knight Time may be attainable. It is a matter of forming a well rounded relationship between students and their Knight Time teachers. Many teenagers will not engage in activities if they do not feel comfortable in their environment. This approach may benefit Knight Time for everyone involved.

“I think it would be very helpful if we had more of a pre-existing relationship with the students, and my preference would be to have Knight Time with students that I already teach. I already have a relationship with my students, and I know them really well,” commented science teacher Christopher King.

There are no major changes planned for Knight Time, but administration is open to making small adjustments to better the experience.

“I think anything you do, you look for ways to improve it. You get feedback from students, teachers, parents, from everybody that has a stake in the game,” explained Nicholson in regard to any possible changes to Knight Time.

Knight Time can be a beneficial concept to the North Penn High School community, but there are still measures that can be taken to further improve the program.