I was very excited this year to receive my first group of freshman advisees.  Moreover, I was thrilled to find out that I already knew five of the students in my advisory group.  While this was a clear benefit for me (and the kids!), it did present me with the challenge of balancing my attention and working to make the seven students I didn’t know just as comfortable as those that I did.  This was actually less difficult than I anticipated.  I had a very unique and diverse group of kids, and within a couple weeks they were all relatively comfortable with one another.  We got together to go bowling, attended Into the Woods as an advisory in order to support one of our members, and spent our advisory periods playings games and working, somewhat reluctantly, on our PLPs.  

 

Various members of the group came to me with relatively minor problems, from getting cut from the softball team (I redirected her into Ultimate and she had a fabulous season) to struggling with the challenges of Accelerated Math (I contacted parents, advised them of academic resources, and worked through the decision of staying put and struggling or moving to a standard class).  One young lady in particular presented a number of challenges.  She was dealing with social and emotional problems as a result of her home situation and made matters more complicated by not communicating honestly with me and by having parents who did not respond to phone calls or emails.  Sadly, this young lady is likely not returning to the Academy in the fall.  I was also challenged by a new addition to our group who arrived in January.  This young man came from China, but was reluctant to engage with anyone in the advisory, including the other young men from China.  We all, both the students and myself, tried repeatedly to engage him, but he was unwilling to open up to us.  In a conversation with a colleague who worked in the young man’s dorm, I discovered that this particular young Chinese student was from a higher social class in China, and consequently felt that engaging with the students in our group was beneath his dignity.  This insight will help me strategize a better way to try and pull him in during the next year.

 

While freshman year is about acclimating to the Academy and bonding as an advisory group, sophomore year is about beginning to look ahead to the future.  I plan to begin the year with dream-boarding in order to focus the students as we begin to set our goals leading up to senior year and graduation.  Ideally, this collection of quirky young men and women will begin to consider the steps they need to take in order to effectively use the Academy and its resources as a springboard into their futures.