An inside look on class council advisors
History and Avid teacher Paul Gordon, one of the advisors for the Class of 2023.
March 7, 2023
An inside look on class council advisors
Class council is a student organization, where 100 percent of the work is student based. Each class has two co-advisors. Class council helps with many of the school’s events and fundraisers for the students to enjoy, and contributes to the Bulldog spirit with the posters displayed at the rallies hosted by leadership classes. They stay long hours after school at times and organize many fundraisers to help raise money for the student body.
Many workshop days consist of the advisors helping students whether it may be something small such as going out to buy supplies or being the person students can go to for advice.
Despite the students working together, class council wouldn’t be the same without the advisors guiding them.
Class of 2023: Paul Gordon
Class of 2023 advisor is Paul Gordon. Gordon explains how he initially wanted the advisor position.
“I seeked it out, I went and found it,” Gordon said.
Gordon looks up to former class of 2020 class council advisor, Jennifer Sun who suggested Gordon should be the advisor. He figured it was the right job for him because he wanted to be more involved with the campus and wanted to build more bonds with students.
“I was new and I wanted to be involved, and it just seemed like the best way to be involved. It gives me a chance to meet the underclassmen who are involved with the school,” said Gordon.
Gordon’s favorite part about being an advisor is seeing students grow as people.
“I’ve got to see them grow from freshman to senior adults and see them go from being super confused and not knowing what to do, to telling me what to do,” said Gordon.
Gordon continues to show his guidance in the program and gives advice to students.
“Be kind without expecting anything from other people,” Gordon said.
Class of 2024 advisors: Joe Osterberg and Andrea Williams
Class of 2024 advisors are Joe Osterberg and Andrea Williams.
Williams always knew she wanted to be a part of something involving kids and leave an impact on students. She strives to be the teacher she’s always wanted while growing up.
“I want to be the teacher I always wanted, but never got,” said Williams.
A couple of students approached her in the gym and asked if she would be the advisor for the juniors because they didn’t have an advisor at the time. On the spot, Williams decided it was for her.
“Yes! I’ve always wanted to be class advisor,” said Williams.
Williams’ favorite thing about being an advisor is seeing how much excitement and joy it brings to the students when it comes to challenges.
“I enjoy watching them get excited when it comes to challenges, have fun and live their high school life to the fullest,” said Williams.
Osterberg initially wanted to be the advisor for class council because a few students had approached him and mentioned how they liked his style of teaching.
“There’s a lot of action going on in my room, a lot of students working on posters, painting stuff, or just kind of organizing their thoughts,” said Osterberg.
Osterberg shares how the class council has shown his other personality rather than just his teacher personality that everyone knows.
“I feel like I can act a little more like myself rather than Mr. Osterberg,” said Osterberg.
Osterberg wasn’t sure about taking the role as an advisor because it would have been a big commitment for him.
“Class advisor has always seemed like a lot of commitment, and while it has been a little bit of commitment, it’s been much more rewarding than I ever thought it’d be,” said Osterberg.
Class of 2025 advisors: Sifat Khan and Carolina Gonzalez-Boix
One of the advisors for the Class of 2025 is Sifat Khan. Khan originally was hesitant about the position of being an advisor but gladly took on the position.
“When one of the kiddos came to me and asked me, I initially thought a lot about it because I had a lot on my plate,” said Khan.
Khan had been offered the position a few times before she accepted the role. Khan was asked again during the second semester of the previous school year and finally decided she would take the job.
“It’s meant to be, after all this time and still no advisor, it’s just meant to be,” continued Khan, “Nobody took it after all these months, so I decided it was going to me.”
Khan was inspired to take the role as advisor because she had a close bond to one of her teachers in one of her previous school years.
“One of my high school teachers who I was close to, she was an advisor and I’ve always looked up to her,” said Khan.
The best advice Khan could give to her students is to just have school spirit and participate.
“Get involved, be part of your class, be part of your school and overall represent a Bulldog,” said Khan.
The other Class of 2025 advisor, Carolina Gonzalez-Boix shares how being an advisor allows her to bond with students outside of education.
“I enjoy being able to connect with the kids outside of the academic realm,” said Gonzalez-Boix.
Gonzalez-Boix expresses how being able to connect with students allows her to be more than just an advisor but someone who students can connect with.
“It’s like a big sister kind of feeling, it’s like being an adult that they can trust,” said Gonzalez-Boix.
At first Gonzalez-Boix wasn’t completely sure about being an advisor because of all the extra time she would be spending at school. Advisors stay tireless nights with the kids to supervise and make sure everything goes smoothly.
“There’s been times where I wasn’t able to sleep or have my own personal life because I tried to put the kids first because of workshops, rallies, etc.,” said Gonzalez-Boix. “I mean we put the pressure on ourselves but I didn’t think it was gonna be this intense.”
The best advice Gonzalez-Boix could give to her students is to make sure to take pictures to remember their high school experience.
¨Make sure to take lots of pictures because high school doesn’t come back,” continued Gonzalez-Boix, “I don’t have that many photos from high school.¨
Class of 2026 advisors: Cecilia Lopez and Howard Lui
Class of 2026 advisors are Cecilia Lopez and Howard Lui.
Lopez decided to take on the advisor position for the class of 2026 and she expressed how it was frightening at first but is all worth it now.
“At first I was scared but after I made my decision, we started workshops and Homecoming, and I knew I made the right decision,” said Lopez.
Lopez mentioned she enjoys the bond she creates with the students, she tries to make them feel heard and seen.
“I feel like the kids need an adult to just hear them out and not only to teach but to listen,” said Lopez.
Since it’s Lopez’s first year here, she wanted to get to know and understand students.
“I wanted to build a stronger bond with the kids, I feel with teaching it’s harder to get to know students on a personal level and class council allows that,¨ said Lopez.
Lopez says it’s rewarding to be an advisor because she gets to see her kids grow and mature.
“It’s rewarding, because you create that safe space for the classroom for kids to be themself, you get to see them blossom,” said Lopez.
Howard Lui had always known he’d want to be involved with the school and show that teachers can do more than just teaching, he was always passionate about the school culture and just being a part of the school community.
“It takes a lot of time and energy, but it just makes me feel good that the kids are happy and smiling about their experiences at school,” said Lui.
Workshops as an advisor consist of seeing students work together and getting ready for any events that are fast approaching.
“It’s planning, it’s just getting ready for whatever events are coming up, and anything that kind of boosts their spirit,” said Lui.
Lui most enjoys being able to not only see the students grow, but to grow with them.
“I love that we as advisors get to grow with them , you see them for all these years but each year it just seems like they want to get better and better,” said Lui.
Lui shares how there comes a time in the year where there are just events after events which can cause an overwhelming feeling for many.
“I’m looking forward to it next year, but I’m just kind of dreading it,” said Lui.
Advisors provide a fun environment for class council to provide their best work for their grade activities.
