Summer. The air is warmer, the sun is brighter, and the grass is greener. When most people think of summer, they think of finally getting a break from school; and although that may seem accurate, it is not the case. Most high schools require teachers to give their students summer projects to assure they continue learning during their break. These summer assignments should be student-designed rather than teacher-designed because students have a right to choose how to spend their break, and if students design them then they will more likely complete them.

Students should be able to design their summer projects because they have a right to choose how they want to spend their break. Summer break should be a time where all students have a time to relax and enjoy themselves. Summer projects are important because they are a way to assure that students are still learning; and although that is very important, they also need a break from all the stress and strict guidelines. These projects should be fun and should make students want to learn, rather than forcing them to. When my sister had a self-designed summer project, she interpreted this as an opportunity to do something creative and as an activity to do all summer long. She did research for her earth science class and went to multiple different beaches to collect sand and rocks, to compare them all later. Rather than doing something easy, she chose to do her summer assignment on a topic that interests her; and not only did she enjoy her time working on the project, she learned something from it as well. If summer assignment are student-designed then the students will choose something interesting, enjoyable, yet still informational, because they will spending their own summer break working on it.

Furthermore, summer assignments should be student-designed because if students design it themselves, they will be more likely to complete it. Contrary to teachers' popular belief, high school students want to learn. These students go to school everyday and although they may hate the early mornings and grumpy teachers, they still want to obtain knowledge. If these teens are given the opportunity to design their summer assignment, they will use that opportunity to learn something in a way that works for them. When I was an upcoming freshmen in high school, i was given my first summer assignment. I was given a packet along with a textbook that was so thick it could be in a world record book. I had two months to complete this huge assignment, yet I put it off until the last week of summer. The format of the project didnt work with the way i learned and i was completely unmotivated to do it. This is a great example as to why these assignments should be student-designed. If i had been given any space for creative freedom, the project could have been completed the first week of break.

Most teachers and school board associates say that summer projects should be teacher-designed because they believe that if students were to design them, they'de make the assignment too easy and not learn anything from them. If the projects were student-designed, students could use this an opportunity to choose an easy assignment and not learn anything from it. Although that point is very valid, teachers still need to offer students space for creative freedom and let them do what they want with it. If a student does choose something extremely easy, that means they chose to ignore this learning opportunity and thats only impacts them. Teachers can only teach students who want to learn, and forcing students to do a strictly formatted textbook summer assignment will not do anything except push them to rebel.

In conclusion, summer projects should be student-designed rather than teacher-designed because students have a right to choose how to spend their break, and if students design them then they will more likely complete them. A summer project is an assignment that some schools require students to complete during summer break to assure that they continue learning. High school teens are stereotyped as students who dont care about school or learning, but the truth is that student want to obtain as much knowledge as possible, they are just held back by old, standardized format of teaching.