This year, students no longer have a class that they go to for advisory, instead they just spend an extra 30 minutes in their second and sixth block classes. This period is called Tiger Time.
The school should revert back to advisory, leaving Tiger Time in the past so students have greater opportunities to address any issues they may have, such as missing assignments, test corrections and additional time with speciality groups.
Advisory was a time that students could use to go for tutoring in another class if they didn’t have time to go before or after school. Now with Tiger Time, students can only leave if they have a hall-pass from that teacher. If a student does not have the class that they need tutoring in on that day, then it can be hard for them to get a pass.
Some fine arts or elective teachers could choose to have a certain class for their advisory period, such as choir choosing to have the honor choir in their advisory period or student media choosing to have the yearbook class as their advisory period. Having these classes as their advisory allowed students and teachers more time to work together. Now with Tiger Time, these classes don’t get as much time during the academic day to work on what they need to get done.
The school stopped sending kids to a new classroom for advisory because some students weren’t going to that class and just roaming the halls, but making students stay in their second and sixth period isn’t going to keep students from walking the halls during their classes. Students are still going to find ways to skip class and walk around. Advisory time gave students a good break period where they were able to stretch their legs, now they have to sit in class for two hours.
If the school really wants to give students time during the school day to go to tutoring and work closer with teachers, then we should bring back the old advisory model. Tiger Time doesn’t allow students to work as closely with teachers if they are unable to get to school early or stay later, instead it just leaves students sitting in their classes longer than they need to be.
The school doesn’t need to completely abolish advisory just because people were roaming the halls. Instead the school should still allow students the transitional period to another class for advisory but have staff members monitoring the halls to send students back to class if they get caught in the halls without a hall pass.
