Everybody needs some time off. That’s why we break up the workweek: five days on, two days off. Working all day, every day, is a recipe for burnout and diminished output.
Yet we can be grateful for weekends while still thinking critically about their drawbacks. These come in two seemingly oppositional flavors.
On the one hand, many of us use weekends to fulfill as many obligations (real or perceived) outside our core academic or professional responsibilities. That leads to wildly overscheduled weekend calendars that leave us little if any real downtime to rest and reflect.
On the other hand, some of us treat weekends as strictly off-limits for anything resembling constructive activity. The intention here is good — after all, it’s important to rest and reflect — but what often ends up happening in practice is an avoidance of social or personal responsibility. We binge on video games or screen time or simply spend hours on end behind closed doors, not interacting or doing much else of value.
There’s no perfect balance between these two extremes, but clearly there’s a broad, happy middle to be had. At least, that’s how we see it at Delphian School, and why we offer a rich array of student and community activities outside classroom hours.
The Importance of a Balanced Weekend
A balanced weekend — but not an overscheduled one — has benefits beyond the obvious. Research suggests that young people who spend their weekends on a mix of enriching and relaxing activities enjoy reap rewards like:
Openness to new experiences: Our weekend programming is richly varied and ever-evolving. We’ll get into the details below, but for now, let’s just say it’s designed to get students outside their comfort zones and open to new experiences.
Global (and local) perspective: Weekends aren’t long enough for a trip across the ocean, but that’s OK. Closer-to-home weekend activities like volunteering in the community or traveling to the nearest big city (in our case, Portland) provide valuable perspective too.
Skill development: Students learn new skills all the time in the classroom and in extracurricular settings before or after class on weekdays. But the weekend offers longer stretches of time for students to really dive into new experiences and hone skills that they might otherwise lack the time for.
Finding new passions: Hone a new skill and you might just find a new passion. Many of our students use weekends to develop hobbies or lay the groundwork for a future career.
Stronger group dynamics: Students at Delphian School begin their weekends on Friday night with a large-group activity, such as a Friday Night Performance (a popular part of our music program) or a group activity in the rec room. These activities bring students together in non-classroom settings, creating opportunities to form tighter bonds and improve teamwork.
Weekends at Delphian School
So, what can Delphian School students (and parents) expect from weekends here? A typical Friday-to-Sunday period might include:
A large-group Friday night activity, including our always-fun Friday Night Performances or a special theater group performance
Saturday afternoon/evening large-group activities like a bonfire, capture the flag, or community service trip nearby
Opportunities to participate in a variety of student organizations and clubs: robotics club, coding club, cooking club, glee club, writing club, game design club, (outer) space club, even D&D club!
Day trips to the beach or forest preserves nearby
Overnight trips organized by the student council — we have several of these each year and they’re always amazing, from skiing and snowboarding on Mount Hood to camping and hiking trips along Oregon’s beautiful, rugged coast
Sounds fun, right?