Advocacy Meetings Moved to Friday

Advocacy+group+meeting+during+the+first+week+of+school.+Photo+by+Pete+Zivkov+on+Menlo+School+Flickr.+

Advocacy group meeting during the first week of school. Photo by Pete Zivkov on Menlo School Flickr.

Kyra Geschke, Staff Writer

This year, the schedule had a minor change made to it, with tutorial and advocacy being switched, making advocacy on Friday instead of Thursdays. The administration felt as though not many students were using tutorial on Fridays productively as there were no classes the next day. “My understanding was students were not using Friday tutorials very well, and it ended up just being a very long break,” Director of Student Life Cathy Chen said.

The change did not come with much resistance as students and teachers alike supported the decision to change advocacy to Fridays. “I like advocacy on Friday better because I think it’s fun to meet [with your advocacy group] right before the weekend, and I focus better in tutorials when I have classes the next day,” junior Skylar Deeter said.

English teacher and junior advocate Rebecca Gertmenian also reported that it is easier for her and her advocacy group to have a good meeting as the stress of the week starts to slow down on Fridays. “So far, I have loved having my advocacy on Friday because it seems like [my advocacy group] is more relaxed and willing to set aside the daily life concerns and have fun as a group,” Gertmenian said.

Although most students and teachers were supportive of the switch, there was some disappointment from teachers and faculty as a result of not having the opportunity to meet with students before the weekend. “I liked having Friday tutorial because if I needed to meet with students, that was a good time to get a group of students together as they did not have as many important things to do during that time,” Chen said.

Along with administration losing a convenient time to meet with students, freshman math teacher and advisor Eve Kulbieda worries that some students might miss the opportunity to meet with teachers before weekend assignments. “I feel like Friday tutorial was reported as not being used efficiently, but I also [think] that some students might feel that it was a good way to touch base with their teachers before weekend homework,” Kulbieda said.