All high school teachers, at some point in their career, should become a class advisor. Longevity as an advisor is not for everyone however! Earlier in my career, I did work as the class advisor with two different graduating classes and then took a nice long break until last year. You see, I thought it would be a unique mother/son opportunity to become the class advisor for my son's Class of 2013. What was I thinking?
As a new class of students enter into the high school, they get a class advisor who, usually, stays and works with that group of students for the next four years. An advisor helps to "advise" when it comes to events like homecoming. The primary focus however is to get the class to raise as much money as they can to help pay for graduation and the activities surrounding it. Each grade level is responsible for selling home concessions (sophomores with girls soccer and basketball; juniors with boys soccer and basketball; seniors have football).
Needless to say, this has taken up a considerable amount of my time as of late. Tonight we turned 50lbs of potatoes into fresh cut fries tonight (the last football game sold 400lbs when they ran out), steamed plenty of red hot dogs, grilled the grilled cheese and popped lots of salty popcorn. Then comes the cleaning up of the grease, salt and crumbs left behind in the machines. The evening then ends with mopping the floors and dragging trash to the dumpster. I smell like "fried foods" when I return home and my feet are sore.
The positive side about the whole thing is that it has been a good mother/son activity. My son has been helping at just about every game and I doubt he would have otherwise. I get to spend time with students outside of school in an activity that they do enjoy (sometimes a little too much and forget to wait on a customer) and I get to help a group of students and see them through to graduation.
Finding ways to interact with students outside of school is an important part of what we do. Our job as educators is much more than a 9 to 5 job. Our students do need our presence outside of school too. This can be a bit of an overwhelming task to ask of us though. We give so much of ourselves during the school day and most days there is very little left to give to personal lives. But, finding a way to somehow interact with students outside of school is rewarding, AND it doesn't have to be becoming a class officer!
Now my daughter is part of the Class of 2018 and will enter the high school in 4 years. I have to say that I might just enjoy playing parent for her and "help" with concessions. When soccer season is over, I will be glad to not have to see those fries go into the yucky looking oil and I get to take a break from those scarlet red hot dogs for a short time UNTIL basketball starts up that is. Are red hot dogs really food??? My daughter thinks so. I think they are unnatural, but what hot dog isn't I guess??
I certainly agree with the importance of advisors in our students' lives--school lives. My best teaching years included both coaching and advising such activities as the students' community action organization. It lends a fullness to the relationship that certainly enhances the in-class dynamic. Sadly, not all schools appreciate this reality. I have found that with coaching in particular, as demands on teachers' time increase, many disengage from coaching. This results in both a missed opportunity to enhance academic relations and too often it also diminishes the educator influence in coached activities (e.g., sports).
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