繪/夏日已盡

睡不醒起不來！推遲上課時間大作戰(zhàn)，我們贏了

繪/夏日已盡

Jilly Dos Santos really did try to get to school on time. She set three successive alarms on her phone. Skipped breakfast. Hastily applied makeup while her fuming①fuming ［fjumi?］ adj. 熏的；冒煙的 v. 蒸發(fā)；冒煙（fume的現(xiàn)在分詞）father drove. But last year she rarely made it into the frantic②frantic 英 ［'fr?nt?k］ 美 ［'fr?nt?k］ adj. 狂亂的，瘋狂的scrum at the doors of Rock Bridge High School here by the first bell， at 7:50 a.m.

Then she heard that the school board was about to make the day start even earlier， at 7:20 a.m.

"I thought， if that happens， I will die，" recalled Jilly，17. "I will drop out of school！"

That was when the sleep-deprived③sleep-deprived 睡眠不足teenager turned into a sleep activist.

She got the idea in her team-taught Advanced Placement world history class. One morning，the teachers mentioned that a school board committee had recommended an earlier start time to solve logistical④logistical 英 ［l?'d??st?kl］ 美 ［lo'd??st?kl］ adj. 后勤方面的；運籌的，邏輯的problems in scheduling bus routes. The issue would be discussed at a school board hearing in five days. If you do not like it， the teachers said， do something.

That Wednesday， she pulled an all-nighter⑤all-nighter 英 ［'?:l，nait?］ n. 通宵的活動；通宵活動的人. She created a Facebook page and set up a Twitter account， alerting hundreds of students about the school board meeting: "Be there to have a say in your school district's decisions on school start times！"

The testy school board meeting that Monday was packed. Jilly， wearing a demure⑥demure 英 ［d?'mj??； d?'mj??］ 美 ［d?'mj?r］ adj. 端莊的；嫻靜的；嚴(yán)肅的；假裝正直的，ruffled whiteblouse and skirt，addressed the board， blinking owl-like. The dignitaries' faces were a blur⑦blur 英 ［bl??］ 美 ［bl?］ vt.涂污；使……模糊不清；使暗淡；玷污 vi.沾上污跡；變模糊 n.污跡；模糊不清的事物to her because while nervously rubbing her eyes，she had removed her contact lenses. But she spoke coolly about the adolescent sleep cycle:"You know， kids don't want to get up，" she said. "I know I don't. Biologically， we've looked into that."

The board heatedly debated the issue and decided against the earlier start time.

After high schools in the South Washington County district， outside Minneapolis，switched to an 8:35 a.m. start，grades in some first- and thirdperiod classes rose between half a point anda full grade point.

Last February， the school board in Columbia met to consider later start times. "It is really reassuring to know that students can have a say in the matter，" Jilly told them. "So thank you，guys， for that."

The moment of decision arrived at the board's next meeting in March. Jilly sat in the front row， posting on Twitter， and addressed the board one last time. "I know it's not the most conventional thing and it's going to get some push back，" she said， referring to the later time. "But it is the right decision."

The board voted，6 to 1， to push back the high school start time to 9 a.m.

為了按時到校，吉莉?多斯桑托斯已經(jīng)使盡了渾身解數(shù)。她在手機上連著設(shè)了三個鬧鐘，早餐也顧不上吃，在父親氣沖沖駕車的途中匆匆化妝。但即使這樣，去年她幾乎也從未成功在早上7∶50預(yù)備鈴響之前沖進石橋高中大門口蜂擁的學(xué)生群中。

然后她聽說，學(xué)校董事會正準(zhǔn)備將上課時間提前到7∶20。

“我想要真這樣我就死定了?！?7歲的吉莉回憶道，“我會輟學(xué)的！”

就是從這時候起，這名總是睡眠不足的少女變身為睡眠捍衛(wèi)者。

吉莉最早產(chǎn)生這個念頭，是在以小組協(xié)同教學(xué)方式進行的大學(xué)先修課程世界史的課堂上。一天早晨，老師們提到學(xué)校董事會的委員會建議提前上課時間，以解決調(diào)度公交線路的后勤問題。學(xué)校董事會將于五天內(nèi)召開聽證會對這一提議進行討論。老師們提醒學(xué)生：如果你不喜歡這樣，那就用行動來表達(dá)你的意愿。

那一周的周三，她熬了個通宵，創(chuàng)建了一個Facebook頁面和一個Twitter賬戶，提醒數(shù)百名學(xué)生關(guān)注學(xué)校董事會的會議：“如果你對所在學(xué)區(qū)的上課時間決策有自己的看法，請出席會議并發(fā)言！”

那個周一，學(xué)校董事會會議座無虛席。吉莉身著端莊的褶邊白襯衫和裙子在董事會面前侃侃而談。她像貓頭鷹似的不停地眨眼睛，因為她看不清那些“大人物”的臉——她的隱形眼鏡在她因緊張而揉眼睛時被她揉掉了。但在談到青少年的睡眠周期時，她顯得十分冷靜，“大家都知道，孩子們喜歡賴床，”她說，“我知道我就不想起床。于是我們從生物學(xué)角度上探討了一下這個問題。”

學(xué)校董事會展開了激烈的辯論，最后決定反對提前上課時間。

在整個南華盛頓郡學(xué)區(qū)（明尼阿波利斯市除外）的高中將上課時間改至8∶35后，學(xué)生們在上午第一節(jié)到第三節(jié)課學(xué)習(xí)的某些課程成績進步了半個到一個績點。

去年2月，哥倫比亞學(xué)區(qū)的學(xué)校董事會召開會議，考慮推遲上課時間?！矮@知學(xué)生在這個問題上擁有發(fā)言權(quán)，實在令人欣慰，”吉莉告訴他們，“因此，我感謝你們?！?/p>

決定性的時刻在3月份董事會的下一次會議時到來。吉莉坐在前排，在Twitter上張貼消息，并最后一次向董事會陳詞?！拔抑溃ㄍ七t上課時間）不怎么符合傳統(tǒng)，而且必將會受到一定程度的抵觸。但這是一個正確的決定?！?/p>

經(jīng)過董事會表決，以6比1的絕對優(yōu)勢決定將高中上課時間推遲至早晨9點。

A Fight to Push Back the High School Start Time. Win！