While Summer is usually designated as a time to be free of school, for both students and teachers, Summer projects linger to ensure continuous learning. These projects can be effective, but they can also be a detriment, not only to students, but to the teachers that have to create them. As such, students should be the designers of Summer projects.

The first group that comes to mind as being afflicted with Summer projects is students. Since students and teachers have different schedules, projects assigned over breaks can tend towards overly easy or overly difficult. If students had the ability to set their own pace for Summer projects, either by themselves or by class suggestions, they could be more prepared to learn without stress. While some may doubt that students would choose a helpful amount of work, the psychological idea of high achievement motivation shows that students that feel like they have self-sufficiency tend to assign themselves moderate challenges to encourage growth.

Though some students may think otherwise, teachers are also affected by Summer projects. Summer is the one long break teachers get before daily work starts again, and they often have to return to school weeks before Summer break ends for students. Forcing teachers to use their lengthiest break to continue leading student growth is clearly abnormal.

Allowing students to design their own Summer projects, or at least accepting their feedback into them, would be beneficial for both students and teachers. As such, it should be implemented immediately throughout schools to create a more effective learning environment.