The Ipswich High School Class of 2020 class advisors are Mrs. Hayoz and Ms. Turner, but not a lot of people know this or realize all that they do. A class advisor is a person who oversees the class officers and helps plan the events.

Mrs. Hayoz shared that she spends about five hours a week working on Class of 2020-related business, which translates to an hour of extra work a day. Understandably, the additional responsibilities and time required for this role can be stressful. In fact, Mrs. Hayoz admits, “Yes, more [stressful] than my actual job [as a teacher].” Mrs. Hayoz only gets paid $1,625 dollars for doing this job, which is not very much considering how much work she puts in. The amount of the stipend actually increased just this year, as in recent years the stipend amounted to approximately $1200 that was divided between the two advisors. Mrs. Hayoz’s willingness to do so much work for the Class of 2020 is a testament to her work ethic and dedication to the job. She and Ms. Turner will need a much-deserved retirement from their roles after this year. According to Mrs. Hayoz, “It’s safe to say this will be my last year of class advising. As a matter of fact, I’m not going to do it again for a very long time.” Although she enjoys the job, it can be exhausting. It also requires a lot of patience because she has to oversee the work of the class officers and make sure they’re doing their tasks. 

The biggest task each class has to accomplish is raising enough money to cover, or at least subsidize, the costs associated with Senior Prom, Senior Week, and graduation.  This amount changes from year to year, but is approximately $25,000. Chad Keveny, the class President, and the other class officers are working really hard to make the 2020 class’s experience even better than years before. Chad explains that the class officers are doing this by “fundraising as much as [they] can and appropriating money where it’s needed.” Not only are they trying to raise money, they are also trying to make the events better than the previous senior classes’ events.  For example, in the past, senior classes played mini golf, but Chad and the class officers are hoping to change that to a trip to Six Flags or Canobie Lake. After asking Chad about Mrs. Hayoz and Ms. Turner, he said, “They genuinely care about the class and are there for this class.” He added that Mrs. Hayoz’s snack drive has turned into one of their most consistent fundraising methods. 

Mrs. Hayoz might be lacking in compensation but certainly not in heart. After we interviewed her and Chad we now know how much our class advisors and class officers do for our class. From helping to plan events to raising money for those events, Mrs. Hayoz and the class officers are working toward making the 2020 senior experience the best it can be.