The addition of Eagle Time

There have been a lot of changes this year. One of them is the addition of advisement also called Eagle Time. Eagle Time is a district initiative that was put in place in every high school. This twenty-minute period includes lessons on social-emotional learning, careers, post-secondary and life readiness to help students throughout their school and personal life and beyond.  

“Advisement is a short period of time each day for students to connect to their school, their learning, their future, their community, their peers, and trusted adults in the school.  Advisement is a place where students hopefully feel accepted and engaged” said Sheri Harrach who is the School Counseling director and one of the thirteen people who serve on the Advisement committee.  

The lessons are put together by the district and Harrach is one of the people that oversee the monthly activities. The curriculum is broken down into two categories: lessons from the district and lessons dedicated to Central. On Tuesday and Wednesday Eagle Time is dedicated to the district curriculum and Monday, Thursday and Friday focus on Central. Each month has a theme, and the activities are designed to match them. Most of the lessons are through Naviance.  

Eagle Time is not only a change for students but also a change for staff. Teachers are now required to lose some of their class time and teach about a subject that many of them are not trained to speak about. It also adds another responsibility for teachers.  

“I think there are aspects of advisement that are useful.  Some of the activities are fun and get the students talking.  However, I find that it is difficult to prepare a meaningful advisement period on top of planning three other subjects, monitoring lunch, and attending PLCs” Brianna Sommer said. Sommer has been teaching at Central for 10 years. She teaches AP Statistics and IB math SL Analysis.  

With most new things Eagle Time comes with its own positive and negative aspects. Many teachers have said that they enjoy the time with students, but the negatives seem to vary.  

“Positives-the students. They get to hang out with me for 20 minutes a day and we get to talk about real topics.  Negatives-only 20 minutes” said Melissa Kuskie who has been teaching at Central for 19 years. Kuskie teaches Spanish 1-2-3, Spanish 1-2, Honors Spanish 5-6, and AP Spanish 

However not all teachers are as enthusiastic about the commitment of Eagle Time.  

“I find that it is difficult to prepare a meaningful advisement period on top of planning three other subjects, monitoring lunch, and attending PLCs” Sommer said.  

Teachers are not the only ones who face difficulties achieving the requirements for Eagle Time. There are still students who do not have iPads which makes completing the Naviance lessons difficult, but Harrach is aware of this.  

“Hopefully that issue will be resolved soon so we can stay on top of the district requirement” Harrach said.  

There is even a debate on whether or not Eagle Time is beneficial, but it is not going anywhere. The staff is working hard to make it so everyone one can participate in Eagle Time; it is simply taking some time to get everything figured out.