STATE OF THE STUDENT – From kickball games to free lunch, State of the Student is a day filled with special activities. However, these events throughout the day do not just magically appear, and the amount of preparation that goes into State of the Student may be more than you think. With nearly yearround planning and its own designated committee, State of the Student Day requires a multitude of resources to be a success.

“I can’t imagine how difficult it is for the school to organize the classes, the theme and all the different food options just to help the students feel relaxed,” sophomore Gabriel Macatula said.

The State of the Student committee, consisting of teachers, students, parents and administrators, decides the theme and format of the day, and also organizes the logistics. Being a part of the committee entails a large time commitment, as they meet multiple times throughout the year.

“When we get to the start of the year, then things start to get really busy,” Assistant Principal Eric Keith said. “We meet every couple weeks, and soon the few of us in charge start meeting every week.”

Every year, the committee reviews the feedback given by the students and tries to improve the day. In light of this year’s theme being “Better Together,” the committee decided to make clubs a key component of State of the Student because they are a means of uniting students from all across the school.

“This day is a perfect opportunity for kids to find a place where they can work with other kids and have fun with other students that have similar interests,” Keith said.

The committee also decided to shift away from mental health, as that was not the intended purpose of the day. Mental health is a serious problem that can present itself in many different forms, and not everyone is properly qualified to try and address it. Instead, the focus of the day has settled on skills that students can develop to become more successful.

“We want this to be a day that students find out how they can get involved and do things differently,” Keith said. “We’re hoping that they take those skills and they translate that to things on campus and beyond high school.”

Although State of the Student has its own designated day, it will be followed up with activities in TA. These moments of reflection should be an ongoing process, and periodically thinking about how you can do things differently will help this day have a greater impact on students.