Some schools throughout the world believe in learning year-round. They think that learning is vital, not only in the 9-10 months there is school, but in the summer as well. To overcome the blockade of learning that is the 2-3 months that students are not in school, schools require students to complete summer projects to insure that they continue their learning during their breaks. Although some people may argue that summer projects should be teacher-designed to ensure that students will be motivated to do their work, summer projects that would be completed over break should be student-designed because students would feel more motivated to accomplish them and their creativity would be increased with their unique ideas being expressed.

Students would be more motivated to accomplish something if they have created it and are interested in the subject. People in general are more inclined to doing an activity that is interesting to them than doing a boring task that they have no interest in whatsoever. For example, students who are very interested in music and participate in band at school would be more motivated to perform well in band than a gym class, where their interest does not lie. Many times, schools do not offer the opportunity for students to create something in class that genuinely interests them, so they are less inclined to do their best on the assignments they receive. If given the chance to do a project in a way that they are good at while researching something that is interesting to them, most, if not all, students would take that opportunity over an assignment they have to do a teacher's way. Also, it is not fair to students to assign large projects over the summer that will effect their grades. If schools want students to continue learning over their breaks, it is necessary that it is done in a way where students do not feel as if their time is being wasted or that they dread doing a teacher-designed assignment. This can be easily avoided by allowing students to design their own projects to motivate them.

Students learn better when they are stimulated mentally and actively engaged in the activity at hand because their creativity is flowing. Some schools may argue that if teachers are not designing their projects, students might create something inappropriate or too abstract, and outside of school's strict guidelines. In reality, if given proper guidelines from a teacher, students will follow these, but will be given the chance to create something unique to them. They will more likely be engaged in their work, which will accomplish a school's goal of students learning in the summer.

The counterargument to the idea that students should design their own projects is the notion that teachers should have the responsibility of designing summer break projects. Although some schools may want this because it ensures that all students are doing the same topic and main idea under a teachers' control, it is more beneficial to have students come up with their own ideas. An example of when student-designed projects are more beneficial to students and peers is in a science fair. In a science fair, each student receives the same general guidelines while designing their projects, but their ideas are creative and unique. Students are able to create and execute their own interesting ideas, but they are still in the boundaries of what a teacher wants them to be learning from the experience.

Although many people do not think about summer projects often, they are a topic that should be carefully discussed in schools. To accomplish their goals of having students be engaged academically throughout the year, it is beneficial for schools to have students create their own projects. This would allow students to express more creativity, be proud of what they have created, and not dread doing their summer assignments. Through designing their own summer assignments and projects, students will be learning and stimulating their minds in ways that would not be possible if forced to complete projects designed by their teachers.