Wilco is a career center that focuses on offering classes to high school students to teach job-specific skills in individual programs. In theory, Wilco is an extremely important resource for students who aim for different paths in life.

93.9% of students out of a poll of 148 would like to take more elective classes; unfortunately, if they also wanted to take Wilco that opportunity would be taken from them.

Elective classes are incredibly important to developing interests and skills outside of typical classroom activities. In its essence, Wilco is an elective course. The problem stems from the time that these courses take up. Most elective courses take only one period and range from 1-2 semesters. Wilco takes three periods and ranges from 1-2 years.

Students who take Wilco have admitted to being forced to give up beloved programs like band or art. Some students have even given up their lunch period to graduate on time or stay in elective courses. 

I am not arguing against the importance of programs like these, I am simply arguing that it takes too much time away from other important classes. 

Students report waiting up to ten minutes for their transport to Wilco to arrive, transport which takes up to twenty minutes to arrive at the Wilco building. In all, there are 50 minutes, nearly a whole class period, wasted.

There is no specific three-period-long program for students who aim to be athletes, writers, or social workers like Wilco students have. Students are encouraged to take a variety of classes in a variety of interests because children should not be expected to decide how they should spend the rest of their lives at the age of fifteen. Classes on these different paths are important, but they should not deny other opportunities or classes to these students.

If it was possible for these classes to be located in school or to be shorter I would be an avid supporter. Unfortunately, as of currently these classes take up an unjustifiable amount of wasted time that could be spent more efficiently.