Last Friday, I had my last advisory meeting with the group of kids who have been in my advisory for four years. We had cake… we signed yearbooks… I wished them well… there were lots of hugs… and it was a really nice way to say good-bye to them as a group.

It’s hard to explain advisory to folks outside of Beacon what advisory can be. At its most basic, every teacher at Beacon is responsible for a group of twenty kids that we take on when they are frosh and see them through graduation. We meet with them twice a week for 35 minutes each time, and topics range from high school adjustment, study habits and time management, Beacon issues, life issues, college prep issues… and well, just about anything else you or the kids can think of. Most importantly, we serve as our advisees advocates. Our kids know that there is a teacher in the school who is looking out for the whole person, not just the English student or the Math student. And also, we are the ones who meet with parents during conferences, and it’s pretty amazing how close we get to the parents sometimes too.

Days like Friday remind me of how powerfully the kids affect us. I had to say goodbye to a group of kids who have been a part of my life on a daily basis for four years. I’ve seen them grow up, and I’ve been able to share in their successes and failures. It’s really a wonderful experience that — when it is part of a school — makes it impossible to forget that we, as teachers, do so much more than teach our subjects. Advisory reminds us that we teach kids first and subjects second.

And it’s wild, this group saw me through a lot of changes in my life. They remember my wedding — it was November of their 9th grade year. And now, as
they graduate, they’ve seen me become a father. So we’ve definitely grown up a lot together, too.

In September, it will be very strange to come back to Beacon and not have Joe, Jeremy, McKinley, Kate, Paul, David, Greg, Giselle, Max, Juan, Dan, Natalie, Julia, Chiara, Kim, Amie, Michael, Crystal and Rebecca there in that first class, waiting to get their schedules and catch up after the summer. They are a part of Beacon for me — they have been for four years.

But of course, at the same time, I’m thrilled to see them go off to college and life after high school. They are leaving the city, staying in the city, learning to be a chef, going to Scotland, going across the country, trying to become a musician… and just moving on. It’s what they are supposed to do. It’s their job. But I will miss them when they go. Four years is a long time to work with a group — especially a group of kids, because to see their growth is amazing.

Congratuations guys… I’m proud of all of you.