Here at Frederick High school, Advocacy is a 40 minute period where students can make up missing work, take a mental break from classes, and go to clubs that allow students to socialize and interact with others while doing something they are passionate about. During my first two years at FHS, Advocacy was a portion of every student’s daily schedule. However, last year the school decided to switch things up and only provide Advocacy twice a week. This became a major issue last year, when because of testing, we had no Advocacy for an entire month. Because of all the problems that have risen, it would be most beneficial for the entire student body to move back to five days a week of Advocacy.
Test Retakes and Tutoring
One of the main uses for Advocacy when it was a daily period was the opportunity for personal tutoring from teachers. When a student was confused on a particular topic in a class they were taking, they could request to be pulled in order to get one on one instruction from their teachers. This is very difficult for most teachers to provide during regular instruction with class sizes generally ranging from 20 to 30 people. This year, some classes have been even larger than 30 due to the severe overpopulation of Frederick High School. Another option that came from daily Advocacy was the opportunity to retake tests and assessments. This was incredibly helpful for many students as it allowed them another chance to show that they’ve learned more about the subject since the last time they took the test. However, this opportunity is generally unavailable with this year’s Advocacy schedule. This leaves most students with one choice, which is to complete tests and assessments at learning lab. While this option may work for some, it requires students to stay after school which is impossible for students with jobs, clubs, and sports. If students had the opportunity to reassess every day, this issue would disappear.
Clubs
At FHS, joining clubs has always been one of the best opportunities to get involved, take part in a passion, learn collaborative skills, and to develop relationships with new people. When Advocacy was an everyday occurrence, students had the ability to get involved in as many clubs as they wanted, but this opportunity no longer exists. With the new system of A days, B days, and C days, some students are unable to take part in certain clubs. Basically, each day we have Advocacy is either considered an A day, a B day, or a C day, and clubs only hold meetings on their assigned day. If a student wants to take part in SGA and FCA, they will have to choose, as both clubs take place at the same time. In the old system, club meetings would overlap here and there, but it was very unlikely. A lot of these clubs are forced to take place after school, which creates a whole different group of issues for people who have sports and jobs. Also, many students rely on bus transportation to get home, or have parents who are only able to pick them up directly after school, and they are therefore unable to stay after school. With the very limited opportunities for these activities to take place, many clubs accomplish very little.
According to our High School’s principal Dr. Franceschina, the main reason for the removal of daily Advocacy is to prepare students for college. However, this reason doesn’t make much sense, as break periods during the day that allow more time for clubs and extracurricular activities are even more common in college than in high school. Ultimately, the removal of daily Advocacy at Frederick High School was an unnecessary change that should be reversed.
