New advisory period aims to help all students

School starts Thursday, and Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School will kick it off with a new program to help students excel. Principal Carla Fee has announced that a 25-minute advisory period has been added to the daily schedule, an addition staff members have embraced. "It's pretty exciting for me to say my staff is totally on board," Fee said.

The program will allow teachers more contact, outside the regular classroom setting, with students, many of whom may be struggling but would otherwise not seek help. Instead of suffering in silence or weighing whether to come after school for extra help -- a decision junior high students don't always make wisely -- each day, students have access to their teachers in a smaller setting.

The advisory period builds in extra time in a no-stress setting, which will do wonders to strengthen student-teacher relationships. When students and teachers have the opportunity to work closely with one another for more individualized instruction, mutual respect develops, which carries over to the larger classroom setting.

Another positive about this addition is that it does not ignore students who are advanced. Often, time and resources are overwhelmingly dedicated to students falling behind academically, while ignoring gifted students. In fact, many a teacher has learned that so-called "bad" students turned out to simply be unchallenged students trying to keep from falling off their chairs out of boredom. Students will be able to use the time for enrichment, and not just reteaching.

Musically inclined students will also be able to make use of the time. Music is often relegated to the top of the chopping block list when school budgets fall short, but Cape has included those disciplines in its new advisory period. Students drawn to the fine arts will have time for extra practice, Fee said. This is, no doubt, music to many ears.

Other schools have found advisory periods help student achievement. We like that the advisory period is being developed in Cape Girardeau to help all types of students. We hope the students take every advantage of the opportunity.