For counselor Brian Williams, this school year will continue to be one of renewal and redefinition for CHS. Not only are we in the midst of a recertification year for teachers — meaning they get to learn new teaching techniques and identify areas in our school to change and improve — but we are introducing new Not School As Usual (NSAU) days to the calendar, prioritizing forum more and starting to redefine the culture at Community.
However, this exciting time of change can be stressful for members of our school, staff and students alike. Although change can be scary, the way we manage it is more important and a step in the process that the counselors are eager to help with.
“If we just fall out of balance one way or another and we’re stuck there for a while, that’s when we need to kind of read just again,” Williams said. “But it’s okay to teeter totter back and forth in there — that’s pretty normal.”
One major change students are looking forward to this time of year is making plans about what they are going to do after high school. With the passing of the early application deadline a couple of weeks ago, the stress of next steps is ramping up. Although CHS students are known by colleges to be hardworking and high-achieving, it’s bound to happen that students get rejected.
“If you hear ‘no’ from somebody, it’s not a reflection of you as a human being,” Williams said. “It’s just part of this process.”
For students who are looking to get a head start on the college admissions process, Williams advises going for it, taking chances, but to not take
This is Brian Williams’ ninth year at CHS and he is hopeful for the path the school is on. In years prior, Williams has struggled to put a finger on what Community’s identity is. “I’m excited to redefine what Community is,” Williams said. “I still love that term ‘the alternative’ but what does that mean these days?”
The past month has been a busy month for Forum Council, with both the Halloween Dance and fall Spirit Week. Now that both events have passed, the events subcommittee has been disbanded.
In recent meetings, Forum Council has been directing its focus towards middle school outreach, which is headed by Isabella Jacob. One of our main goals for the year is to develop a new system that will allow us to reach out to more of the Ann Arbor middle schools. Forum Council put out a form to recruit more students to go to different middle schools as representatives of the school.
Recently, Forum Council held a meeting focused exclusively on middle school outreach. The council divided into three different groups to finalize the new outreach system, which will reach every middle school in the district. Ebie Lamb and I reviewed the slide deck that is to be presented across the district. Jacob worked alongside vice president Addi Hinesman to prepare a script for representatives and a CHS brochure to distribute to middle school students.
Along with these new materials, an outreach video created last year by Forum Council treasurer Parker Haymart will be sent to the inboxes of every advisory leader in the district.
Within the next month, CHS representatives and Forum Council members will present at every middle school in the district, spreading the word about the opportunities at CHS.
it too seriously. He encourages all students to go to our school sponsored college visits even if they aren’t sure they want to go to the school being represented or feel nervous about attending.
“The best way to start learning is just to go talk to these people who are at these institutions and just get a sense of what it feels like to talk to somebody about that,” Williams said. “Even if you just want to go check in on one or two colleges just to get your mind thinking: is this right, is going to college a possible option for me? And start thinking about what types of schools you might be interested in.”
Coming out of the pandemic, Williams thinks that this is a perfect opportunity to seize this change and redefine CHS.
“Things have changed quite a bit,” Williams said, “What are we now? Where do we want to be? This process will hopefully help us kind of remagine or redefine what we want to do. I
am hopeful that we can start to implement some new structures and some new ideas within the building as a whole.”
But just how do we do that? Williams hopes we can emphasize and solidify CHS’s identity within the district.
“I still love that term ‘the alternative’ but what does that mean these days?” Williams said. “What’s different from what those other schools are?”
All the schools in our district seem to have their niche, with Skyline’s Magnet programs, Huron’s IB program and Pioneer’s robust music program. In all of this, Community can sometimes feel like we’re still searching for our defining features.
“I love the idea of us being that creative, interesting school. We do things in a very creative way,” Williams said. “I think if we really dive into that, and be that creative, funky alternative that’s still academically rigorous, I love that idea.”
