Trojan Connections. Many students use it as time to get caught up on missing work.  Others find it an inconvenient interruption to their school day.  This leads many to ask the question: Why do we have Trojan Connections? 

Trojan Connections has been a part of the Kelly Walsh schedule for around ten years according to Principal Mike Britt. He also explained what TC is for and the multiple reasons behind having the extra period.

“TC is almost a thirty minute block where students can get extra help in any of the classes they have. it’s also a time the school uses when we need meeting time with certain classes,” Britt said.

This year, TC has changed its place in Kelly Walsh Students’ schedules. While TC previously ran from 2:55 pm to 3:24 pm (the end of the school day), the period now lasts from 11:15 am to 11:45 am. This change in time has ignited some controversy among Kelly Walsh students as some students used the old TC time to give their younger siblings rides home from school or to go to work.

“It’s made it so I can’t work after school or I have to work later,” said Kelly Walsh student Sophia Ferguson.

While most students want to know the reason for changing the time of TC, it is also important to understand why Kelly Walsh even has a TC in the first place.

On the surface it may seem that the only reason to have this twenty nine minute period in the middle of the school day is to give students an opportunity to catch up on work and get extra help in classes they may be struggling or behind in. But, principal Mike Britt explained that there is a deeper, more financial reason to implement this period.

“The reality of it is that we were struggling with student attendance at that time. Both the Natrona principal and I worked with district leadership to make sure that students have as full of a schedule as possible,” Britt said.  He added,  “The reality of it is that it does have to do with money. The state funds a students education based on them being a full time student. So, if you have, a four block schedule, and only three classes, three out of the four is only 75% of full time. The state does not reimburse the district for you unless you’re at 80 percent. So we need five percent somewhere,” Britt said.

The school needs students to spend 80 percent of their day in academic settings to be able to fund things for the school like supplies and activities. Trojan Connections is what gets students over that hump of 75 percent. The high school principals and school district officials decided to move TC to the middle of the day this year to increase attendance and, ultimately, keep the school funded to give students more opportunities to be a part of activities and have school supplies paid for.

While this change of TC time is a burden to many students, it also keeps the school funded and creates an environment for students to thrive and grow.