In October, when advisory was still a new thing, HatChat asked students and staff for their opinions about the period’s implementation. The results were varied, with most being unhappy about the new addition to their schedules. Fast forward to today where we are almost finished with the first semester, and up to this point students and teachers have had the ability to familiarize themselves more with advisory periods, leading to perhaps more insightful opinions. As a result, we asked students and staff again for a round two of what they think about advisory so far.

First interviewed was senior Mark So who said, “I mean, I think it’s just whatever. It’s a little bit of time so there isn’t much to do.” When asked if there was a change he would like to see, Mark simply said, “Not really, I think it is fine as it is right now.” Likewise senior Andy Guzman shared the same feeling saying, “I think advisory is alright” and when asked if he wants any changes he responded, “I think it is fine as it is right now.”

Freshman Alexander Sieminski had a more positive take on advisory, saying that, “It’s pretty good. I can get some work done and it’s a nice little extra break in between the day.” When asked if there was a potential change that he would like to see Alex responded, “I mean, make it
maybe a few minutes shorter. I feel like it is a bit too long.” Perhaps now that advisory has become a weekly routine for all students, we are seeing a decrease in critical opinions.

However, senior Jake Salters who attends Eastern provided a unique insight on what advisory looked like for him. For context, many Eastern students must leave school during Lunch and Learn to get to their campus on time. This can sometimes leave very little time to eat lunch and simultaneously do any outstanding work for classes. Jake Salters stated, “I am essentially losing 10 minutes of my lunchtime and because we already have to leave earlier, this makes our shortened lunch even shorter, which I would be fine with if I felt like we got something out of advisory, but I feel like we don’t”.

In comparison, from a teacher standpoint, the views on advisory were either only slightly constructive or mostly positive. Mr. Mulroy, a business teacher, said, “I think it is a good way to get the kids together once a week if you need to catch up with the kids, see kids, give them directions.” If asked for any changes he would like he said, “No, it’s working fine just the way it is.”

Furthermore, Mr. Baun –who teaches computer science— provided some constructive feedback. He said, “Sometimes students feel like it’s just like another lunch and learn. That could change if we have more structure or if there were more opportunities provided for students to do some activity during lunch and learn every week.”

Well, it just so happens that the administration team has upcoming plans for advisory. Administrator Mrs. Berman says, “I think we have some ideas, but I think the most important thing is what would be helpful for all of you.” To that end, she says, “What I would like to do, you know, at some point moving into second semester, would be to get some feedback from students in the form of a survey or something of that nature so that we could gather that feedback from everybody and see if there is something specific that would be helpful.”

For those who wish for radical changes to advisory, looking out for a potential survey such as the one mentioned by Mrs. Berman would be the best choice of action. In the end, only time will tell what is in store for advisory after winter break.