A Change to the Age-old Advisory System?
May 1, 2012
Tina Czaplinska Acting Editor in Chief “Tropic Thunder is the best movie of all time.” “Why do you teach African Civ. if you’re white?” “Can we play Word Party?” “Where’s the food?” This is my advisory, the Gilden Advisory.[gallery] A variety of people, originating from a variety of backgrounds, result in a variety of conversations. While I have always seen the medley of people and personalities present in advisory a good thing, the advisory curriculum is currently being re-evaluated. The decade old structure is going back to the drawing board and after a few new arrangements were considered, one stood out particularly: single grade advisories. Mr. Graf admits that change always leads to anxiety. While the main perk of our current advisory system is that students get to socialize with upper and lower classmen, Mr. Graf claims that, ” the faculty and I had a hard time thinking of another selling point.” An advisory change has been in the works for a while now. This year faculty like Ms Warren and Ms McCarthy created an advisory curriculum, in hopes of better caring for advises. This meant that once a month, during long advisory, one’s advisor was meant to discuss a specific topic, in hopes to offer some kind of guidance. Through this, there was an ultimate realization made that the advisory structure does not align with the advisory curriculum. “Each year in high school has unique opportunities and challenges,” Mr Graf explains, “A different advisory structure could do a better job supporting our students as their problems are relatable, they’re going through the same thing. You [as an advisor] won’t have to worry about neglecting your junior advisees when [for example] your sophomore advisees are stressing out about their service learning hours.” Of course there is not a unified response from the students. Current freshman Franny Kelher is baffled by the idea, admitting that she “wants to be in advisory with friends who aren’t in her grade.” Franny raises a valid point; while Latin emphasizes, “we are a community, a big family,” there are segregations sprinkled everywhere. With the junior-senior English electives replaced with the arrival of English 11 and now an advisory change, it seems as though Latin aims to only build strong relationships between students in the same grade. Gavin Hilder, a junior, is currently in an all-junior advisory. His freshman advisory, Ms. Bunger, became a 10-12 adviser his sophomore year so his entire advisory stayed together. Gavin loves his advisory, saying that, “We call can relate to what is going on in school, each person’s issues are relevant to everyone else’s even though we all have own opinion still.” While Gavin’s single grade advisory was accidental, he admits “if they did that on purpose, it’d be really cool because by senior year you’ve established really great relations with those peers.” Through this, single grade advisories aren’t so much segregations as they are unifications. It is important to remember that Latin also offers a wide variety of mixed grade activities including language classes, art and theatre electives, project week, student government, and clubs. So, maybe next time you’re in advisory, you’ll think more about its dynamics and if they suit you. Or maybe you’ll just continue wondering where the food is. That’s mostly where my mind wanders. If you wish to learn more about what is going on with the advisory curriculum, SAB welcomes students to their May 4 meeting at 7:30 AM in the Loggia. ]]>
Caroline • May 14, 2012 at 9:11 pm
As a freshman, I have to say that I’m disappointed that I won’t have an opportunity for a mixed-grade homeroom. It was one of the things I looked forward to when I decided to stay at Latin because it would allow me to make more friends in the upper grades. While I understand that clubs and extracurriculars may be an opportunity to meet other students, it’s easier to do so in a smaller setting. As a shyer person, I don’t usually go to a club without convincing one of my close friends to come with me, and then, well, nothing progresses. With the more intimate setting of a homeroom, I would probably feel more comfortable. We also had small, single-grade homerooms in middle school, and while it was fun then, I think that it would be nice to have more opportunities for advice from people who’ve dealt with the work you’re doing.
valerie.lindstrom • May 13, 2012 at 9:22 pm
Listen to your students carefully. Yes there are clubs and other activities that students can intermingle with in other grades but not all students join or fit in that easily. Having a mixed grade advisory group is more permanent and all students are required to go with their advisor. A mixed grade advisory group brings a wealth of broader issues, ideas and insight from different ages. Much like real life. All the students benefit and have a much richer experience with a diverse group. It builds a more solid community and relationships among different ages of students. Our world is not about building silos but about building a much richer school community and beyond. Historically if grade levels separate themselves socially maybe this would be a way to start changing history…do agree that maybe the groups just need to be more balanced as far as students from different grade levels.
jthurm • May 13, 2012 at 4:32 pm
I don’t understand why an advisory cannot have the best of both worlds. I think that the problem lies with the fact that some advisories are simply poorly divided, meaning they are sophomore heavy or don’t have enough girls. An advisory should have people of every grade so that students can not only talk about their troubles and relate to their fellow classmates, but also get advice from the older grades or maybe a new perspective from the younger grades. I do not think that the answer lies with making single grade advisories. I think to solve this problem advisories need to be better divided so that these different perspectives can exist in every single advisory.
Hedy • May 11, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Mr. Tempone (and any other teachers who wish to comment) – While I hope I’m not speaking too much on behalf of the other editors, I’d like to say that we really appreciate your comments here. The goal of the Forum is to create an online discussion, and having teacher input really adds to the level of debate.
ftempone • May 11, 2012 at 10:37 am
I understand and respect what you’re saying, but this doesn’t make “life easier” for me at all. I take my advisory responsibilities seriously, and I wouldn’t have to work any harder with a multi-grade advisory.
Students didn’t choose me as their advisor this year. Each student completed a form last year about the kind of advisor he or she wanted, and I was assigned to students who seem to fit my style.
Also: am I allowed to write here, or is it just for students?
Josh: I see your point about “looking up to seniors…” and I’ll argue there are plenty of other areas in this community for you to have this access to students in other grade levels: clubs, project week, athletics…
We have a history of separating grade-levels socially anyway, right? You can’t just plop down on the senior couch, can you? Will you argue as rigorously for a freshman’s seat at the senior couch?
…unless Advisory isn’t social, but academic…but then, still, we separate according to grade level in academics more often than we don’t…
And you SHOULD always speak, write, and argue, regardless of whether or not something has been decided. In my experience at Latin, there’s always room to revisit a topic or issue.
Let me know if I shouldn’t be commenting here, please…
jmartin • May 10, 2012 at 7:52 pm
I’m going to be very frank right now and say that I am really not looking forward to the advisory changes. It appears the only true benefit of the advisory it that it makes life easier for teachers because their students will no longer be in as diverse number of classes, so as Mr. Tempone said “Questions get answered easier.” But to be honest that seems like a very small gain compared to the concern caused to students being taken away from advisors that they trust and put in an advisory they didnt necessarily choose. also the addition of a student who doesnt fit the makeup of an advisory could ruin the already established flow of the advisory. personally i think its a shame that we will be turning to single grade advisory; as a sophomore i really look up to the seniors in my advisory and have established relationships with people i never would have in our mostly single grade classes. I really don’t know why im talking about this right now because its clearly already been decided. In my opinion we are stuck with this crappy change and now were just going to have to deal with it.
gdago • May 10, 2012 at 7:44 pm
I’LL MISS YOU MARSHALL ADVISORY xox
tcohn • May 10, 2012 at 5:44 pm
I agree with the above posts (besides yours Mr. Tempone, sorry). There are very few opportunities for inter-grade bonding, which I believe is a result of the faculty attempting to encourage unity within each grade. Even last year, the usual advisory seating in gathering was replaced with alphabetically assigned rows by grade. There are so many chances for students in the same grade to build relationships and, while I’m not against increasing the amount of these opportunities, I disagree that it should be done so by replacing any time that has traditionally been set aside for students to hang out with other grades. Personally, I feel the advisory system has failed me, because I will have had a different advisor (if the proposed changes occur) every year of my schooling. While it is true that it is very rare to have the same advisor you had for your freshman year in other years, I did not want to change advisors any other year. I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I’ve spent with each one of my advisories though, and I dread having to trash the dynamic my advisory has right now and having to start over from scratch. From what I’ve heard, this change is mostly the result of advisors wanting to be able to attend grade level meetings for all students in their advisory, which is currently impossible as advisories have students of varied grades. I wonder how significant this is, especially when we have a very limited amount of grade level meetings a year. In my opinion, the detriments of this change heavily outweigh the benefits.
ehardman • May 9, 2012 at 10:31 pm
Way to break students away from their CHOSEN advisors, Mr. Graf. If I had to deal with that next year (I won’t for I’m bailing out of this piece), I wouldn’t even go to advisory anymore. I’d skip…
ftempone • May 9, 2012 at 2:27 pm
I have a sophomore advisory, and I love it. If students have a particular question about their classes, it’s answered easily. It also brings students in the same graduating class closer together…I understand the arguments against, and I don’t like to see students “uprooted” from places they like to be, but if we’re truly a community, you’ll still have a connection with the other students/teacher in your former advisory for the rest of your stay at Latin.
Hedy • May 4, 2012 at 2:39 pm
I’m really sad about this change, because I don’t want to see people get uprooted from their advisories that they’ve loved for two years. I know some people who will have to be, essentially, kicked out of their advisories, and I think that’s a huge shame.
ewilliam • May 4, 2012 at 12:32 pm
As much as I appreciate the efforts put into this decision by the faculty, I can’t help but think that Latin will loose its sense community, as Tina pointed out. For the past four years I’ve lead tours and talked to prospective students about Latin during the Open house. Every year I’m asked how integrated all the grades are and after the English 11 change, I’ve had to resort to saying that we integrated advisories. After that leaves, how can we honestly be one big community? Will there be school wide activities to help grade communication? Gatherings would be divided, the majority of classes divided and it seems like grade specific activities would take precedence.
mbabingt • May 3, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Gilden advisory is the best!!
pwiggin • May 3, 2012 at 8:02 am
I understand the reasoning behind the proposed changes, but I’d be really sad to see our mixed-grade advisories go. I’ve been an anomaly for the last two years: I’m currently the only junior in the Coberly advisory, and I was the only sophomore last year. On top of that, the 2010-11 group was all-male. I’ve really loved being in this advisory because of its loose structure and generally happy feel (everyone is very compatible), but also because I’ve gotten to learn from classmates, both younger and older. As a sophomore, it was wonderful to hear from juniors about their experiences with meaningful (or pointless) service projects. Now, as a junior, the seniors’ words of wisdom have been incredibly helpful for me as I search for college, and the sophomores are keeping me young. Giving up the mixed 10-12 advisory system would take away all of these great memories from future students, and adding structure might strip Coberly’s advisory of the quirks that make it the Best Advisory Ever. SAB, please consider carefully.
rstone • May 2, 2012 at 11:05 pm
As a lifer at Latin, I had assumed that high school would be just like middle school but on a larger scale; the grades would bond, and you would have fleeting contact with upperclassmen (if you were sufficiently cool) and minimal friendships with the younger grades unless you tripped over a sixth grader in the hallways. But the high school turned out to be a whole lot more different than I had thought, mostly because of the inter-grade relationships. Multi-grade Advisory is a pretty big part of that, and I think the school cohesion would be lacking if it were eliminated. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like my advisory is kind of what all John Hughes movies aspire to be; a bunch of blokes about school who sit and talk about their problems and give each other advice. Sophomores have the ability to get advice from the Juniors and Seniors, Juniors get to laugh at the Sophomores who leave all their community service until the last moment, etc. I’m not in a sports team or any school activity, and aside from taking upperclass classes, I wouldn’t have had as much contact with other grades if it weren’t for my advisory. High school is weird and wonderful, and most often, the people who can help you the most are people who have just been through exactly what you are going through. Also, the seniors in my advisory bring the best food.