The Sleep to Succeed Project®

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Chief of research: erica Park

Compelling information has been brought to the Union’s attention regarding the effects of school start time on student academic performance, and student health—both physical and psychological. Erica Park, ZCHS Class of 2009 and Chief of Research for the project, has done extensive research on the subject for a school project. She concluded that starting school later in the morning for teenagers, and in exchange earlier for elementary students, would be beneficial to all parties involved. We would be looking at hypothetical school time of around 8:30AM-3:30PM. The ZSRU leadership has read her material and is satisfied that her conclusions are valid and well supported by appropriate evidence. Her proposals have therefore been endorsed and adopted as official Union policy. School hours would be better utilized by young children and adolescents if class was held at peak hours of intellectual performance per age group.
Younger children are more awake in the morning, while older students are not awake or alert until later in the day, due to a chemical called melatonin. She provides significant evidence suggesting that such a “start time swap” could save money for the Corporation.
Operation and transportation costs would be more streamlined and efficient.
 Upon furthering the research of Ms. Park, the ZSRU also finds:
 Athletic competitions and practices would not necessarily need to be pushed back later in the day.
There would simply be eliminated time between the end of the school day and the start of the “athletic day.” Before and after school care programs are already available at the district’s elementary schools.
There is no need to go through the logistics of creating such a program. There is overwhelming support from the community, including students and parents of all aged children.
Community support is highly valuable in facing such a huge transition. The Office of the Chairman is now coordinating efforts to put the proposed changes into effect within ZCS. Exploratory steps are being made to explore possible caveats in such a plan, and subsequently methods of surmounting them. Moving Forward A pilot period was initially proposed for the last nine weeks of the 2009-2010 school year. However, due to the increasing amount of circumstances to be considered, the ZSRU has come to terms with the fact that this is an unrealistic and unwise goal to pitch to the School Board. With many more programs, people, costs, and logistics involved than initially imagined, the goal of STS would not be properly realized but instead overshadowed by the madness of an unripe idea being acted upon. That being said, the Zionsville Student Rights Union has every intention of pushing forward with the idea. Many, many things need to be considered, and we hope to work our way through these obstacles one at a time. The idea is not one we hope to cast aside, because it is an idea that is scientifically sound and would ultimately benefit our community, primarily the young people. Any amount of work necessary will not be in vain if the hope of improving the well-being of Zionsville kids is realized. Chairman Llorico and company continue to meet with ZCS administration, attend School Board meetings, and converse with PTO regarding the issues involved. The wonderful thing about problems, though, is that there is almost always a solution. Rather than putting a time limit on things, or setting a pilot program, or constraining ourselves to doing as much as we can by a certain date, we want to get everything done, and then go on to the next step of putting the changed schedule in action. By the time that Sleep to Succeed is formally proposed to the Board for a vote, our goals are: To have gained perspective from a broad range of parents, students, and teachers in the community To work around logistical issues such as transportation and athletics To have determined and analyzed costs and budget Luckily, we are already well on our way in many of these aspects. We have the ball rolling on something big, and we fully intend to keep that momentum going. Sleep_to_Succeed_Project_files/Sleep%20to%20Succeed%20Research.pdfshapeimage_1_link_0

Keeping Up With STS: A Timeline of Project Activity


  1. ‣Fall 2009: ZSRU board members Llorico and McComas visit with ZCHS Vice-Principal Greg Hall and the Zionsville Community Conversation Committee to put a spring ZSRU-hosted Town Hall Meeting on slate, with the focus on STS in the community.

  2. ‣September 11, 2009: The Board resolves to rework initial ideas for pilot program.

  3. ‣July 6, 2009: Llorico meets with the Athletic Directors to pitch the idea of a spring pilot program, and discuss how Zionsville athletics would be affected.

  4. ‣June 8, 2009: Llorico & Ross present updated findings to the school board, and express intent to come forward with a formal resolution concerning Sleep to Succeed once all interested parties have been contacted and heard from.

  5. ‣May 11, 2009: Ross, Campi, and Llorico address the School Board regarding the ongoing exploratory phase of the Sleep to Succeed project.  Board members provided valuable feedback that the Union will utilize to solidify proposals to be made later on.

  6. ‣May 8, 2009: ZSRU Leadership meets with PTO Leadership Council and Dr. Robison to obtain feedback on Sleep to Succeed.  The meeting was extremely positive, and generated a wealth of useful opinions that will be used to streamline the way in which the ZSRU presents its final proposal.

  7. ‣May 4, 2009: Chairman Steve Ross and Chairman-elect Abby Llorico meet with ZCS Superintendent Dr. Scott Robison to discuss Sleep to Succeed in more detail.

  8. ‣April 9-May 4, 2009: ZSRU leadership works to form an athletic advisory committee for the Project, consisting of various underclassman student-athletes, and plans to meet with the PTO Leader Council at the next available opportunity.

  9. ‣ April 8, 2009: Ross, Campi, and Park meet with ZCS Superintendent Dr. Scott Robison and ZCHS Principal Mr. Chris Willis to discuss the Project.  The meeting was positive and productive; Dr. Robison advises Union leadership to meet with community leadership, including the PTO Leader Council and representatives of the Athletic Department, to hear their opinions and concerns on the matter.  Erica Park is appointed to the position of Chief of Research for the Project by Chairman Ross. (click here to read the Chairman’s order of appointment)

  10. ‣ April 7, 2009: Park’s proposals are adopted into official Union policy by order of the Chairman (final discretion rests with the Board)

  11. ‣ Mid-March 2009: Erica Park first presents her findings to her AP English class, in which Chairman Ross and Vice-Chairman Campi are both present. After an extensive overview of the need for, and effects of, the proposed “start time swap”, Ross and Campi approach Park about turning her proposals into reality.

Supervised by: the office of the chairman

Contact the ZSRU

I’m an STS Athlete! Facebook Group          STS In Action          STS Overview Packet, June 8 ed.


The Full Initial Report by Erica Park