In the fall of 2019, in the high school, we are implementing “Home Teams”, which is our name for “Advisory”. We formed a committee (Mrs. Opdahl, Mrs. R. Bot, Mrs. Knutson, and myself) and pitched the idea to our entire high school staff. The buy-in was strong! Home Teams will take place on Wednesday’s between 3rd and 4th hour for a 30-minute block of time. The hope is that is successful enough to expand it to two days a week the following year. We are striving to have 10-15 people in a Home Team and the advisor would follow their group through graduation. The advisor would act as an advocate, an academic advisor, a mentor, a coach, a friend, and in some cases, a parent.
Some of the planning is still taking place but we plan for Home Teams to work on a service-learning project, homecoming/snow week activities and will work as a team in many situations throughout the year. There will be some real-world skills taught (different per grade level), some team-bonding, and of course lots of fun. It’s all about making sure that all of our students have at least one adult in the building where they feel that connection. We think having “Home Teams” will be extremely beneficial for our students and staff.
I got to experience a successful advisory program when I was a teacher. I started with my group with they were freshmen and I got the pleasure of staying with them through graduation. I got to know the parents of my students, their siblings and was “there” for the student through all the milestones of high school.
Please take a moment to view the two videos I’ve included to learn more! These examples have components of what we are hoping to accomplish.
If you have any ideas for service-learning projects, I'd love to hear them!
Jeremy W. Frie
High School Principal
