Los Altos High School’s Principal Advisory Council (PAC) joined Challenge Team, a local student-focused organization, on Oct. 9 to discuss student issues from AI to stress management. This meeting marked PAC’s first opportunity to directly express student concerns to the community.

PAC is a student organization that helps Principal Tracey Runeare recognize student needs, meeting every month to discuss relevant issues at LAHS.

“I chose students who didn’t already have a voice,” Runeare said. “They’re advising and giving me information about students that we might not recognize.”

The Challenge Team, made of community members who work with students — such as mental health organizations, YMCA representatives and student resource officers — invited PAC to speak at their monthly meeting to understand current student issues.

“When the Challenge Team asked me if I had students who could speak at the meeting, I thought it would be a great opportunity,” Runeare said. “Whenever you’re speaking in front of an organization or groups of people, that’s an opportunity to learn.”

During the meeting, PAC members discussed a variety of topics affecting students in the classroom. In particular, the Challenge Team and PAC discussed:

• AI use in the classroom; members of PAC discussed the extent to which teachers allow AI for learning, how AI affects student retention and students’ personal relationships with AI.
• Canvas vs Google Classroom; students argued the benefits of using either platform, as well as the confusion that occurs when teachers use different platforms.
• The college application process; students explained the pressures that arise from the process, due to social and academic pressures, as well as the comparison between students.
• Opportunities available to students; students discussed the usefulness of summer internships and volunteer options that are given to students by the College and Career Center
• Social media use; members raised concerns about the spread of misinformation on social media, pointing out that students get most of their news from social media platforms. They also discussed the effect of social media use on academic performance, mentioning how excess social media use could lead to procrastination.

Members of PAC also said they want to make student concerns more easily communicated to the administration.

“We view the administration, not as people that we can talk to, but as these higher, otherworldly figures that we can’t communicate with,” PAC member sophomore Kabir Malhotra said. “Appearing as a bridge to administration would help students start to interact with them, and I feel like that’s a really important step into making people feel more comfortable.”

PAC members said they hoped that the Challenge Team walked away from the discussion with a clear view on student needs. 

“I hope that they understood a little bit about our perspectives on issues,” PAC member sophomore  Adrita said. “I think adults often have different perspectives or they perceive that we assume some things, but that might not always be true.”To bring an issue to the administration through PAC, the form is available at tinyurl.com/LAHSPAC.