Like the sighting of a lighthouse — whether amid a storm or on a clear, pleasant day — advisories at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly are a constant, illuminating beam of light guiding students through their high school journey to new shores. Four days a week, these groups of some 20 students from all four grade levels meet to reset, rejoice, review or relax while building connections with other Paul VI students in the same core group.Led by pairs of “Big Brothers” and “Big Sisters” and two teacher-advisers, each 25-minute gathering serves as a safe “go-to” harbor, where the students participate in whole-group activities, small-group sessions, partnerships or individually. Once every eight days, the groups attend Mass together in the chapel during their advisory period.
PVI’s advisory program is a community-centric initiative designed to create a welcoming, relationship-building environment. There students can share, reflect upon, participate in and secure support regarding challenges or concerns unique to their particular experiences or with overarching issues or questions common to high school students.
“Through advisory, students are able to have intentional time with students from other grade levels, sports teams, clubs and extracurriculars,” said Nick Zaso, assistant coordinator of campus ministry. “This mixed variety of students comes to study, laugh, pray and enjoy fellowship in communion with one another. Students are able to receive mentorship from upperclassmen and, in turn, grow to be mentors themselves to younger students.”
Advisory runs 1-1:25 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; students are dismissed early on Wednesdays for teachers’ professional development meetings. The advisory sessions not only give students a chance to relax and socialize with peers of different age groups but also give them a reprieve in the middle of the day from their regular 90-minute classes. It’s also a great time to catch up or work ahead on schoolwork. Pat Ngongba, a senior and varsity basketball player, shared his sentiments about advisory. “I like how advisory is scheduled in the middle of the day,” he said. “It gives us a break from our classes, a chance to get some work done if we need to, and the opportunity to socialize with new and old friends.”
Advisories benefit the students at Paul VI because it gives them a time throughout the day to communicate with peers and meet new people. Advisory helps bring the school together with all the activities done together throughout the school year.
“In addition to leading ‘intention rosaries’ once a month with our group and staying on top of everyone’s grades, I’m looking forward to launching some new initiatives with my co-adviser and teacher Vicque Fassinger this year to further help students get to know more about each other and feel comfortable talking to each other outside class time,” said Joseph Sebastian, theology teacher.
A new addition to advisory this year is the opportunity to attend Mass and receive Communion with a handful of other advisory groups. Experiencing Mass with one’s advisory class once every eight days further helps bring students closer to each other and to God.
