Imagine Prep organizes an advisory once a week, every Wednesday the students do an advisory activity in fourth hour that is based on a slide show with some questions to think about the topic of that week and most of the time it comes with a video too so we can also reflect on it.

Advisory means “being in a capacity to provide advice or opinions.” and a  “announcement or formal message released to the public in order to forewarn against specific risks or dangers.” according to BusinessDictionary.

The purpose of advisory is to:

“Take a break from academics and you can actually kind of focus on yourself and figuring out how to refine those skills that you need outside school”

According to Emma Franco, a high school English teacher who also helps prepare advisory lessons, advisory is to help students enhance skills that can be helpful in all capacities of life.

“We wanted to try to find a way where you can learn things that can be useful to you every single day not just in school,” Franco said.

This is Franco’s first full year doing advisory, she helped a little bit last year but this time she is working full on it. With the help of middle school counselor and global perspectives teacher, Mrs. Amy Boven, they are able to create lessons and address issues that are going on within our middle school and high school. They talk about what they are seeing in the school  and what kids may need, for example if it testing season they might do stuff about stress and how to get enough sleep or they do peer relationships but a lot of times they just ask students about what they want to know about.

Franco said she really enjoys doing it.

“I get to know my kids a lot better, I get closer relationships with my class and we have really good conversations,” Franco said.

Students have even able to get involved and plan advisory lessons of their own.

Sophomore Mark Lowell prepared an advisory lesson about a disorder he lives with, essential tremor disorder. This lesson was to provide awareness to our student body and to encourage them to take part in a dress down day to raise money for the International Essential Tremor Foundation, (IETF).

Jake Simpson is a sophomore that wanted to participate in advisory and get involved in it and also with the school to connect with the students. He decided to create a slideshow about what is going on with him so people can be more aware about what is going on with him. After he saw Lowell’s video he was inspired and he wanted to do one too.

“After I saw his video I thought maybe I should do this, because it is something that I deal with too so I can tell the people about it and inform them,” Simpson said.

He was looking for more acceptance of who he is and people being aware since the month of April was also autism awareness month. A lot of people at school don’t really know what some students are going through and we all should be more aware of that.

“After that advisory people were celebrating me in the hallways and more people was trying to talk to me because now they understand my issue,” Simpson said.

Advisory is a really great idea that the school had, the lessons are really helpful and they make you think a lot, and not only about things about school, you learn about yourself, other people and life.