The house system: Aether, Ignis, Terra, and Laguz. Sounds new, fun. And it very well could be. It seems like it could genuinely help those who need an opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow Analy High students. However, it wouldn’t be fair for me, as a student representative for a house, to only discuss the great things. This doesn’t mean I’m going to just rant and complain about the house system, though. The house system has its pros and cons. Alli Dannenbring, Lawson Gaylord, and I, just a few weeks or so before this last paper’s print and distribution, had a meeting with House Leaders regarding Dannenbring’s previous article because there appeared to be some misunderstanding in the house system. During this meeting, we brought up several large issues with the house system and attempted to offer solutions. Unfortunately, we were continuously provided the excuse of “…again, this is our first year…”.
The issues that are plaguing our house system are various and troublesome, but not unsolvable. Here are my problems and solutions:
Lack of formal funds: The houses do not have access to funds like a typical program. However, this can be solved. Similar to club day, we could have a day where each house sets up stands and sells treats and whatnot to earn funds. Aside from this, each house can also be responsible for creating their own sources of income such as bake sales. Another idea to add to this is opening fundraisers for the public to donate to at their own discretion.
Attendance: People are not attending house meetings, and I don’t blame them. A way to encourage attendance could be more open and diverse sets of goals during the rally. For example, some students may choose to play the activities that are planned, while others may choose to study for a test with fellow house members.
Tutorial: I won’t discuss this as Gaylord’s article regarding this says it all. (This is your sign to read it!) One quote to sum up the general consensus of thoughts is “Tutorial has been described as a tool for student athletes and extra curricular commitments and when it’s ripped away, it causes a lot of issues. At least for me, it ruined my schedule,” which was said by Eli Righetti.
Student Interaction: “I haven’t interacted with the houses at all… I found it boring… [There is] A better use of my time,” one student said, who preferred to remain anonymous. One way to fix this is to ask the students what they want to do during house rallies and meetings. Another part of this is that while some houses have student representatives, others don’t. Having a student there to say “hey, this aint it” may help gently guide activities to capture the participation of students.
Confusion: Some students don’t even understand the house system. A way to combat this is simple. We have freshman orientation to teach incoming students about what Analy is all about. What better way to fully explain how this all works? In addition to this, similar to what Sebastopol FFA does, student representatives and house leaders can go to feeder schools and further educate and collect ideas from 8th graders as they think more and more about their up and coming high school career. It is their future.
Teacher Participation: Not everyone is going to agree with this system or be willing to participate. For teachers specifically, this raises problems. Students will reflect the ideas of their teachers – and that should be okay. While it is amazing there are select teachers willing to set up and coordinate the houses, it is not a bandwagon, and not everyone should be required to be on to be considered “there for the students”. If the house system is to be drama free, let everyone, teachers or not, choose their own rate of participation in and regarding the Analy High School Houses.
