Advisory may expand next year by 10 minutes and may take place on Tuesdays

Posted April 29, 2022

By Daryna Bosyuk

Staff Editor

Teachers were recently surveyed about a possible extension to advisory class for the next school year, including moving the class to Tuesday.

There are preliminary discussions about extending advisory from 20 minutes to 30 minutes in length. It was also discussed for the possibility of moving the class from Wednesdays to Tuesdays. The goal for advisory class is to provide students time for key lessons, announcements, surveys, check-ins, and similar areas. The extra time would provide more time for teachers to connect more with students and help them in their journey through high school. Since students do stay with the same advisory teacher all four years, this would provide additional time for staff to connect and advise students. Advisory is a required class worth one credit. The advisory period first began in the 2018-19 school year. This year’s graduating class will be the first to attend the new class all four years.

“I think it’s a really good thing for us,” said former principal John Bier when Advisory was established in 2018. “Teachers already do a really good job connecting with our students, and this is going to make it even better.”

Advisory lessons are planned by ELA teachers Michelle Wood and Brooke Hunter. Each advisory teacher goes through specific mini-lessons about leadership, safety, health, Erin’s Law, school rules and expectations, and other topics. Erin’s Law is a lesson required to be taught to students on the topic of child sexual abuse prevention. Child sexual assault survivor, Erin, advocates for awareness and prevention of sexual child abuse. The law has passed in 37 states, with 13 states still in the process of passing the law. Oregon was the 23rd state to pass the law. Lessons differ between grade levels.

Students were not surveyed for this proposed change. Principal Greg Carradine was unavailable for comment.