Roxy Kalantari

To so many students, office hours are a time spent after or before school perfecting their knowledge on specific subjects, helping them achieve the most they can in each class.

The classroom can be daunting to some—so, it’s much less scary to go to office hours and ask the teacher for help rather than in the middle of class surrounded by peers. Some students’ grades end up suffering because of this.

“I would say [during office hours, going over] topics where the teacher has really clarified, and maybe even went over the whole thing with me again, there has definitely been a noticeable difference in my grade,” Bernice Amaziah (10) said.

Most students prefer it because the time feels more personalized and they are able to delve deeper into topics that they specifically need help with. 

“Sometimes it’s difficult to understand the material when it’s being taught during class,” Regina Li (10) said. “So office hours are a great chance to get one-on-one teaching with both the tutors and the teacher.”

Each student learns in a different and unique way. Because of this, they tend to need different levels of attention with different topics and office hours are an opportunity to fulfill this.

“With office hours I can come in and it’s nice to have one on one time with a teacher to go over things that I specifically didn’t understand,” Amaziah said, “[Office hours provide time to review] specifically what the student is missing so that the student can learn to the best of their ability.”

Teachers tend to take personal time out of their days to provide this extra help for their students, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. They know the impact of office hours and are just generally looking for a chance to get their students to reach their full potential. 

“I think office hours is one of the ways students can go beyond what’s expected of them,” Mr. Dustin Gibson, a ninth grade honors biology teacher said. “They can spend more time with the content, spend more time thinking about problems, thinking about solutions, analyzing data, and interacting with their teacher.” 

The teachers at Ayala care for their students and at the end of the day, they just want them to do their best. 

It’s just like nurturing a flower. If you water it, give it sunlight, and give it love then it has a chance to prosper and bloom. Office hours are just one way that teachers show us this. 

“[Office hours are] a time that you can schedule that one-on-one time with the teacher. Some students really need that additional help,” AP and English 10H teacher, Mrs. Laura Grissom said, “I can’t think of another time that you learn as much as you do [than during office hours].”