Associated Student Body (ASB) and Student Community Leaders (SCL) bring us some of the best activities during our school year. Homecoming, rallies, blood drives, spirit weeks — they’re a busy bunch, and the leadership and planning skills their students learn by hosting these events are no doubt invaluable. Trouble is, the student body has other leadership needs. Fortunately, ASB and SCL are equipped to take them on.

Those needs are many, and varied. While we’d never presume to know them all, here are a few we think are important.

Earlier this school year, Principal Wynne Satterwhite came over the announcements to condemn recent prejudiced language and actions taking place on our campus. In situations like these, it shouldn’t just be up to the administrators to denounce bigotry on our campus — it’s important for ASB and SCL as well as other influential student groups to be propagating that same message. If we want change to be spread on campus, it needs to come from the students en masse, not just the adults in charge of the school. It should have been student leadership to first call out this deplorable racism, not Satterwhite. 

Another example — mental health. Students often complain that leadership groups on campus repeatedly swing and miss when trying to approach this issue. Right now, Wellness Week encourages students to dress up for spirit days such as “Ugly Sweater Day” and “Generations Day,” and the week is supplemented with brunch and lunch activities like slime-making and coloring. 

While these activities are fun and help unify our school community, they fail to genuinely address the rampant problem of mental health and don’t give students applicable, viable ways to manage overwhelming stress during a time of year where tensions are at their highest. 

We want to keep these activities — it’s important to have fun traditions and it’s part of what makes high school such a memorable experience. But what if ASB and SCL also stood up for students struggling with teachers who refuse to uphold the homework policies, or who hold major tests the Friday before finals week?

ASB already has the infrastructure for this type of leadership. They hold biannual meetings as a class with Mountain View–Los Altos Superintendent Dr. Nellie Meyer, where they discuss concerns regarding subjects such as workload, schedules and campus environment. But, these meetings can be made more efficient and effective with input from the student body as well as transparent preparation on the part of ASB. We want the discussion to be a reflection of the concerns of the student body. But in order to do that, ASB needs to publicize these meetings and the student body needs to speak up.

If ASB and SCL are going to achieve this type of leadership, then they need to improve their communication with the student body. Class Council meetings were put in place for this exact purpose — to provide a forum for students to express their opinions. A democracy only works when the people are actively participating. As much as we want ASB to grow its reach, it’s also the responsibility of the student body to speak up about what they want to be addressed. The best place to do so is in these meetings. 

It’s unfortunate that our student body doesn’t yet take advantage of these resources — but they need to. In order for change to happen, communication needs to be a two-way street. A democracy only works when the people are actively participating. As much as we want ASB to grow its reach, it’s also the responsibility of the student body to speak up about what they want to be addressed. 

That being said, student leadership groups can’t be complacent in their attempts to reach the student body. If these class council meetings aren’t propagating the response they want, they need to find other ways to connect with students.

Working with school clubs is another way to communicate with a diverse group of students, outside of the grade-level system. Students don’t just identify by class, but rather with specific interests on campus. Taking advantage of a club senate model would not only solve the question of diversity, but it gets more leaders on campus involved in important issues. This system also sets ASB and SCL up to better communicate with administrators and board members in the district.

We know ASB and SCL already accomplish a lot, and we know we’re asking them to take on more. But the school needs this type of leadership — we believe in ASB and SCL as the way to achieve it.