Advisory must go

My thoughts have been on the future lately. I have been contemplating what my career will be, which college I should go to, and something of equal importance but in the much nearer future-- which classes I will take in the next two years. This would not be such a difficult choice if our ineptly-named "advisory" class did not get in the way.

Of course, I will have to take the required English and social studies courses. As far as math goes, I know that I will take pre-calculus, followed by calculus in my senior year. I will take physics as a junior, but I'm undecided on my science credit the year after that. A lab science would be preferable, though. So this takes care of my core classes for the most part. No problem there.


But what about electives? I am planning on taking anatomy, psychology/sociology, Spanish III and possibly Spanish IV. I do need to fit an art credit in there somewhere, too. In an ideal situation, I would also take Journalism. However, the situation is far from that. With the introduction of advisory, our yearly elective hours are cut down to two instead of three. If I am required to obtain a certain amount of credits of a specific type, such as art credits and foreign languages, how will I take the classes that I want? The classes I want to take are subjects that will most benefit my career and my chances of getting into a good college. A great big thanks goes out to whoever thought of the horrible idea for advisory.


Not only are our elective hours restricted, we also are gaining less credits per year. Advisory only counts as half a credit. Where is the sense in this? Shouldn't our school be trying to help us make the best of ourselves through their curriculum?

Some would argue that advisory is doing just that. The goal of our half-hour class is to prepare us for college and life in the real world by improving study habits, morals, and social skills. However, most of the "morals exercises" and "career etiquette" activities they make us do were already given to us last year in Career and Technology Foundations. The studying, reading, etc. skills they are trying to teach us have already been introduced to us. The so-called curriculum is useless. And when there is no lesson planned for the day, students use it as a study hall. The only good thing to have come out of this disastrous idea is the enrichment classes, which everybody seems to love. Other than these once-a-week enjoyments, advisory is a complete waste of time. Time which could be spent on far more important subjects.

Why? Why would our administration allow everybody to have free time almost every day when it would be so much more beneficial to give us our other elective back? It does not even have to go that far. If our faculty is reluctant to change our schedule back to how it was last year, then I suggest a compromise-- allow us to have our enrichment class Monday through Friday instead of advisory. A whole week would greatly benefit all of the programs, giving the classes and students more time to grow and develop. Think of how much help it would be to math reteach.

I'll admit that whoever came up with the idea for enrichment really had their head on right. With so many intriguing and fun options that appeal to all genres and interests, these weekly sessions give students something to look forward to. Classes like college prep are excellent for students focused on making it into good colleges. The survival skills and lifetime running programs help students build up practical and healthy habits. Other classes provide a time to enjoy a hobby or sport, relieve stress, develop a personal talent or skills you may need in your career, test your mechanical or strategic knowledge, and pursue new interests. My hope is that with a little more development, some of the enrichment classes will become real hour-long classes for a full credit. I for one would definitely take Sports Medicine if it was offered as an elective.

Even if some of this cannot be accomplished, one certain fact remains: Advisory must go.

Do you agree? Disagree? Leave a comment and let me know where you stand on the issue. If enough of us believe strongly in this, we can make them change it.

Emily Prevost
WHS
Wickenburg, Ariz.