High School. To some, these are two daunting words overused by middle school teachers with the intention of striking fear into the hearts of young students: “Oh, you think I’m giving you too much homework? Just wait until you get to high school.” For others, they pose a challenge—an impetus of sorts to motivate a student to graduate, as well as successfully surmount the common high school stereotypes portrayed on television and in the media— boring teachers, different cliques, and failed relationships (insert any Taylor Swift song here). However, others take a different approach—they ask for advice. Go to any high school graduate and, most often than not, they will preach the same words: “When it comes to high school, you get out what you put into it.”
Get out what you put in. Basically, if one arrives on the first day of freshman year teeming with exuberance, determination, and optimism, he or she is sure to have a wonderful high school experience—that is, only if that person is able to sustain an attitude of uninterrupted excitement for the next 719 days of their high school career. So that is the only requirement one must fulfill to ensure his or her four years here at Walpole High are perfect, right? Wrong. Although one’s personal outlook on high school does impact the overall high school experience, the responsibility does not rest entirely on the shoulders of that particular student; on the contrary, it falls heavily on the teachers. It is their duty to create the schedule and offer countless courses to prepare the student body for not only college, but also the futures of each individual in each grade. No pressure.
Thanks to this tremendous responsibility, the words of most adults still reign true, but with a slight alteration: In high school, you get what the teachers put into it. Like contestants on the culinary show Top Chef, Walpole educators combine a variety of ingredients together in hopes of creating a concoction superior to the competitors; yet, as all great chefs are aware, tweaking the recipe to better the outcome is encouraged. Principals, teachers, and members of the Walpole Board of Education strive to perfect the school system, making any changes or adaptations necessary to better Walpole High School’s chances of standing out in the sea of other public schools in Massachusetts. They take note of programs that work in some schools, as well as the ones that do not. However, finding the perfect program may take a while—months, years, even decades. Yet, once they find this secret ingredient, it is imperative that they never let it go; unfortunately, Walpole High is in danger of losing its newfound pièce de résistance: the new advisory program implemented in 2010.
In 2011, Boston Magazine ranked Walpole High School 55th out of 135 best public schools in the state. Not bad, some say. Judging criteria consisted of decidedly mundane statistics—student to teacher ratio, graduation rate, student enrollment, and number of sports teams, among others. Everyone knows stats like these have nothing to do with a town’s total championship titles in football or hockey; yet most Walpolians would be ecstatic, justifying Walpole’s rank by the sole fact that, hey, at least it beat the town’s rival, Norwood! However satisfactory the news of this ranking may be to some (yay, Walpole is above average!), Walpole principals and teachers have yet to cease searching for the perfect program to adopt. By some miracle, they happened upon advisory.
This program was not designed for the students’ academic grades per se; rather, it was an attempt to design a way in which the students could form a level of trust between not only an individual and a small group of their peers, but between that student and a particular faculty member. The program was intended to establish a system for that teacher to provide both mentoring and guidance, whether it be on an academic basis or on the subject of bullying, peer pressure, etc. The success of this program, which has been put into use in schools around the Bay State, inspired Walpole to try it out for themselves.
The program’s debut in 2010 prompted school officials to consider making several changes to Walpole High’s seven-day schedule. Currently, students break off into advisory groups every Thursday afternoon for about 25 minutes. This eliminates the need for homeroom—a seemingly necessary element of school that was so common, most students could not believe such a traditional part of the daily routine could be terminated. It was, however, and students seem to be getting along just fine without it.
Being the first year of high school for the class of 2014, 2010 proved to be a year of many changes. Upon entering freshman year, the students were told that they would graduate as the first class to successfully complete all four years of high school with the advisory program in use during each of those years. Now, in 2012, plans for putting the advisory program to an end next year are surfacing; although they are not yet finalized, there is talk that there will be, once again, major changes in the schedule—the advisory program is rumored to be a “no go” for the 2012-2013 school year, as well as ensuing years. Great. More changes.
If board members and faculty decide to cut the Walpole High School Advisory Program in the near future, Walpole is certainly making a mistake that will prove to be detrimental rather than beneficial. Most students look forward to spending time with their own group. Groups began as collections of randomly selected students of all kinds; however, members within a group have developed a bond between one another that is simply inexplicable. Who would have thought a room full of perfect strangers could get along so well? The program has become in some ways a form of self-expression—a block of time occurring only once each week with few ground rules, leaving projects and assignments to the whim of the students’ creativity.Each advisory’s success is dependent on its ability to fabricate some sort of plan, activity, or common goal in which each member of the advisory can partake in. No one is left out, and all are free to share their thoughts and feelings.
Seeing as though the guidelines for advisory were purposely ambiguous, different groups interpreted the objective for the program in their own ways—some grasping the new program’s intention of forming bonds and collaborating brain power more than others. Every Thursday afternoon, teachers and students unite for their meetings. Some groups play board games. One group in particular opts to chat about their school day while putting the finishing touches of glitter-glue on the advisory t-shirts. And still, others choose to put their own spin on the meetings—a specific sophomore group plans to change their community for the better by engaging in an eco-friendly community service project involving the creation of a box garden—a dream sure to be destroyed by the decision to cut the advisory program.
If Walpole High does not keep their advisory program for years to come, the school will lose one of the best components of its schedule in a long time. Advisory encourages students to show off their creative side through self-expression. It allows for a child to better their social skills by working in a group of kids their age while helping to achieve a common goal. Who knows, the students just might find a solution to a school problem or community issue by meeting in their group.
New changes to the schedule would further complicate things, seeing as though students are just beginning to get accustomed to the new bell schedules and shortened periods of the varying schedules for PLC days, half days, and advisory days. Ending advisory and changing the schedule yet again would confuse students even more, making the class of 2014 feel like the victims of an experiment gone bad, which will inevitably lead to yet another failed program’s attempt to changing the school “for the better.” Isn’t it fun being the school’s new-curriculum test dummies?
So what’s so awful about the advisory program? No negative outcomes are to be expected. Why, after just two years of trying the program, are changes being made? Walpole School officials must realize they are on the right track to creating the perfect school. To do this, they must discover an ideal combination of ingredients that will work together in perfect harmony, creating a school system unique to Walpole. It’s not difficult—all it takes is a pinch of athletics, two cups of academics, and programs like advisory. The key is to remember that secret ingredient. Bon Appétite!
