If you are spending your Advisement periods watching the clock tick out of immense boredom, you are losing the opportunity to get closer to the peers you will be with for the entirety of your high school career. But fear not! Here are some activities that some Northwood Advisements do to have fun.
Potlucks
Potlucks are a foolproof way to bring people together through food. Education specialist Kyle Ennis’s Advisement hosts monthly potlucks where students bring a snack or dish to share with the rest of their peers, from everyday chips to cultural meals.
Gathering around a grand feast means students can indulge in all the cuisines their hearts desire, and if anything else, Advisement students can share one thing in common: their love for food.
Arts and crafts
When school feels like a non-stop, never-ending academic cycle of stress and despair, computer science teacher Catherine Cali’s Advisement relaxes by learning origami. Students channel their creativity to make animals and flowers from little sheets of paper.
“It’s fun to compare your own origami with others,” sophomore Aditi Gupta said. “It challenges me to try to create something new.”
Not only are arts and crafts activities a way to show off creative skills like making the perfect paper crane, but they are also a great conversation starter to try and work together to create a masterpiece (or a crumpled piece of paper.)
Trash for treats
Although doing work in what is often thought to be a time of unwinding might seem tedious to some students, history teacher Logan Sewell’s Advisement creates a positive sum game out of beautifying the school campus.
Sewell first sets a goal of how much trash the class needs to pick up across campus. Then throughout the week, the Advisement picks up trash and reports back to Sewell. Once the students reach the goal, Sewell rewards the Advisement with donuts.
“I like getting donuts,” sophomore Kayla Fu said. “I appreciate that Mr. Sewell tries to create connectivity in our advisement, otherwise we would be exclusively on our phones.”
Gift-giving
Every day can be a holiday if your Advisement participates in gift-giving. In his Advisement, assistant principal Eric Keith has brought candies, chocolates and specialized keychains engraved with positive words the students chose for one another.
“Keith’s Advisement activities have helped me get more involved on campus,” freshman Diane Almaoui said. “Being a freshman and being new to the school, the activity helped me open up.”
This doesn’t have to be a one-sided activity where only teachers give gifts to their students. Advisements can draw names from a hat and then give each other gifts following a budget and a wishlist to make each Advisement a surprise.
Chicken Flingin’ practice
Amid Northwoods second annual chicken flinging competition, science teacher Mickey Dickson’s Advisement, who were last year’s champions, spend their time perfecting the fling to keep their title.
“Our Advisement prepares for the Chicken Flingin’ competition purely for bragging rights,” Dickson said. “We take immense pride in wearing the crown for being the best poultry chuckers in the state of California. Additionally, if you’ve never squeezed the 3-foot chicken, you haven’t lived.”
After getting past the sounds of screaming chickens, this activity is a great way to play games with people you might not otherwise know and try to win the competition’s grand prize of a giant rubber chicken for your Advisement.
