By Nayab Mehmood
Staff Writer | The Pacific Times

NP3 High School advisory classes will complete advisory class projects this year as done in previous years.

Advisory class projects are completed by each freshman, sophomore, and junior advisory class.

They are intended to help students for their senior projects senior year.

Each grade level is going to have some sort of overarching theme that advisory classes try to meet.

Freshman advisory class teacher, Melissa Ciubal, shared that there are two parts to the freshmen advisory class projects; one that focuses on service learning, in which students plan ways to contribute to their community, and the other a time capsule.

To Ciubal, both parts of the freshmen advisory class project give an important message to students.

“It’s that lesson in life of how do we give back without needing anything in return and how do we serve the community in a timely fashion when they need it as opposed to it’s an assignment deadline,” Ciubal said referring to the first part.

In addition, the time capsule shows growth over time, and that there is always more to learn.

Ciubal prefers simple projects like book drives or soup kitchens. She noted that such events have been successful in the past. These past examples provide steps students can take for their advisory class project.

Sophomore advisory class teacher Jennifer Hembree said that teachers do not view these efforts as service projects, but instead as service learning.

“This isn’t about community service, it’s not about going and fulfilling hours, it’s about how you can learn about yourself and your community through activism, and getting involved,” Hembree said. “And that doesn’t necessarily have to look like volunteering your time and doing community service, so we try to make a real big distinction there.”

To Hembree, targeting the cause of an issue is more effective than doing smaller acts which may temporarily limit the effects of a problem, but not eliminate the problem itself.

Ciubal and Hembree have similar views on students participation in the advisory class projects.

“So in terms of accountability, I think it’s the sense of community and the sense of, um, altruism, or wanting to do something for others, I’m hoping that’s what’s gonna keep people motivated for the deadlines,” Ciubal said.

Hembree sees a relationship of trust between her and her students.

As freshmen and sophomore advisory classes start working on their advisory class projects, junior advisory class teachers have yet to solidify plans, according to Teresa Huang, junior advisory teacher. It is likely that they will help NP3 juniors begin the process of starting their senior projects, which the students will carry on to the next year.

Class of ’24 Advisories Host “Among Us” Tourneys

By Aneesa Mahmood
Staff Writer | The Pacific Times

Recently the freshman advisory class held optional “Among Us” tournaments for the 9th grade students.

The tournaments are meant to be a fun way for freshmen to get to know each other better.

“The 2024 Advisors had been discussing for a while how we could connect more with our students,” said Alejandro Chan-Artiga a freshman advisory and experimental science teacher. “We all had various ideas but the one that stuck out the most was hosting movie screening/game night activities with our students so we decided to try it out.”

Added Chan-Artiga, “After a couple of attempts, we noticed that students did in fact enjoy these activities and we always had a consistent turn-out whenever we hosted them. After a couple of weeks of noticing this success and seeing how much it engaged our wonderful students, we decided to take it up to the next level and try out a game tournament where each advisory would fight for the bragging rights of being ‘Game Night Champions’.”

The 2024 advisory teachers told The Pacific Times they plan on having more collaborations after winter break.

Freshman who want to meet new people and have a good time are encouraged to check out these activities. Watch your advisory teacher’s Google Classroom for details.