Last year FHN overhauled the homeroom system and introduced KnightTime. This mixed all different grade levels into one homeroom and included group activities led by mentors, who were either juniors or seniors, or teachers once a month. This year however, there are less teacher led activities, more gold days and sophomores are allowed to be mentors.

“I think that it’s a good challenge for students if they feel confident and comfortable enough to mentor students that are older than them,” Teacher Courtney Freeman said. “but I think it’s real life because you could start a job at any age and if you’re good at your job you might have to mentor people who have been there longer.”

Mentors and teachers both rely on each other to ensure that Knight Time runs as smoothly as possible. In order for the lesson to run as it’s supposed to, both parties need to participate and communicate with each other. After time though, students can become more independent.

“It’s pretty stressful being a sophomore as a mentor because over half of the people in the room are older than me, but I feel like it’s going to be manageable after a few lessons.” Sophomore mentor Bradyn Pearson said. 

While there were minor changes made to the Knight Time after last year, a majority of it remained the same because many believe it succeeded in the goal they had in mind: to make the community of FHN stronger. Even though the sophomores had to take on the challenge of mentoring students older than them, their maturity level is high enough to be able to face obstacles like these. 

“I feel like it has helped in a positive way, like year one there are going to be bumps in any new system but I think that everyone can look back and say there were good things that came out of that,” Mentor Leader Kristen Johnson said. “Students in my classes I know definitely feel happy and connected, like they have a home.”