As another school year is underway students are eager to see what classes they have and with who. But what most students don’t think about is the people that have to fix every schedule problem and sort out every situation: those people are the counselors.
Right from the beginning the counselors have been hard at work trying to meet all the students demands and solving scheduling problems. Junior Elizabeth Franssen was originally scheduled for three different sixth periods: yearbook, FMP, and choir. The counselors got right on fixing it and moved her into independent yearbook, along with three other students who just couldn’t fit it into their packed schedules. “It was an easy fix, I didn’t even have to go talk to them because they already handled it,” Franssen said.
After spending many class periods waiting for a chance to talk with a counselor, Jalaene Choquette was finally available. This is her second year of being a counselor. She started this year eager and jumped right into her piles of forms for schedule changes and transfer students. She estimated that 25 to 30 percent of all students want some kind of change. With few actual mistakes in scheduling, most of the changes are for students “wants.” The biggest problem she faces is students wanting to rearrange their schedules to make their days easier with jobs, sports, or other extracurricular activities.
Choquette says these few weeks come as a shock. “I think of every schedule like a puzzle with all the pieces, or classes, I need to fit in them.” She was very pleased to say that because of the signed forms that are now mandatory for changes, this year had a smoother start than last year. She likes how every student makes a 4-year plan before they enter high school. But, it would be easier for her and the other counselors if students revisited it every semester, or at least every year. That way it would be easier for students to stay on track with what classes are required to graduate and how many credits they have. But even if the counselors don’t have a perfect system yet, they give it their all to make sure students have the best possible schedules.
