Revisiting Advisory: Student and Teachers Offer Their Opinions

Lydia Foster

History teacher Tim Kirkpatrick shows a registration video to his advisory class of sophomores. It is part of the advisory “lesson plan” given to teachers. “The ‘calendar’ or ‘lesson plans’ that are given to us are more detailed and usable than the first time around,” Kirkpatrick said. “I personally like many of the things that are designed for us.”

Lydia Foster, Staff Writer
February 4, 2022

This school year is the first time in almost two years that Creek has had advisory. It was introduced as an “extra class” in fall 2019, but because of COVID, it was just reintroduced this year and is still a relatively new experience, for both students and teachers.

“I think the study hall or access time is very good for most students,” social studies teacher Tim Kirkpatrick said. “I think that most teachers do feel that it is a good idea to give students time to do work, organize themselves, visit teachers,and generally have a moment during the school day to take a breath.”

This is a common feeling among teachers.

“I like the idea that there is a time when students can get some of their work done while still at school and that they can go see their teacher and get more individualized help,” math teacher Eric Haupert said. “If the idea of Advisory was to relieve some of the stress that students are under, then getting some of the academic load under control is a benefit.”

Advisory was implemented as an “extra period” given to students as a time to study or meet with teachers. Especially since teachers were told in an email by Silva that they were giving too much homework to students, it makes sense to give kids extra time to work on homework during school.

But while teachers believe that advisory is beneficial, not all students agree; especially regarding the “curriculum” part.

“It’s lackluster and repetitive,” junior Regan Kerns said. “We go over things that have been covered in previous years, and frankly, it’s boring.”

Junior Megan Wijaya agrees.

“It’s certainly not the support system I think it was designed to be,” she said. “I’ve heard much of the same from a lot of my peers – that advisory is good as a study hall but not much else.”

This curriculum is given to teachers as a kind of guide to use.

“I use the calendar occasionally,” Haupert said. “I check it every week and I make a decision on what I will use or not use.”

Teachers are presented with options that would “hit the point” that teachers should be focusing on for the week.

“The lesson plans that are given to us are more detailed and usable than the first time around,” Kirkpatrick said. “I personally like many of the things that are designed for us, but I am not sure they always resonate with students.”

But while the idea behind this curriculum might be a good one, it isn’t executed in a way that benefits students as it was intended to.

“I do think that the curriculum should be removed,” Wijaya said. “Nobody really seems to take it seriously, and it seems like jumping through irrelevant hoops to get more time in study hall.”

“It’s certainly not the support system I think it was designed to be,” she said. “I’ve heard much of the same from a lot of my peers; that advisory is good as a study hall but not much else.”