As principal for a day, supervisor surprised by student involvement

The experience was part of the county-wide program that matches community leaders with local schools; the idea is to give leaders a better understanding of what's going on in the classroom today. What Church found was that students are having more say in how the school is run these days.

Church started off his day by sitting in on a conference between student representatives and school officials - a regular event that Principal Marian Wong recently established. Meeting topics range from the overall well-being of students to more technical matters like school rallies and events, said Mills sophomore Tracy Lorenz. In yesterday's meeting, Church watched as students and officials discussed developing a buddy system that would pair up seniors and freshmen and the possibility of all students maintaining the same guidance counselor throughout their high school career.

To say the students are more engaged today means a lot, since Church wasn't sitting about idly during his time at Mills. As the student body president, Church said he remembers lobbying to have the school's constitution changed to allow for greater freedom of speech. Like today's students, Church's peers also worked to open up the dialogue with administration.

"It's a lot broader now though," Church said. "Kids have access to the Internet and that offers them a broader horizon of what's going on in the world. They're also much more tuned in to the local community."

Today, it's not just the student body that gets to meet with administrators. The student advisory committee Wong helped establish represents students from various clubs and the leadership council.

The monthly conferences, which take place before students head off to their first period class, are the outgrowth of an assignment students had in an American Government class.

"We wanted a two-way dialogue with students," Wong said.

In addition, she said the meetings allow school officials to explain to students "why certain things are the way they are."

Sophomore James Dunn said the meetings have greatly improved communication between students and administration. Dunn said having Church sit in on yesterday's conference gave students an enriched and broader view of what's happening outside the school.

Church wasn't the only one to act as principal for a day. Civic and business leaders from around the county took part in 69 local schools yesterday.

Yunmi Choi can be reached by e-mail at yunmi@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.