Last year, Community time was used as the time to talk to your teachers, socialize, or enjoy an extra long 2^nd/6^th period class. But this year, no more! The 20-minute period we have tacked on at the end of every 2^nd/6^th period class on Wednesdays is now being run by the students in leadership. “We’re trying to make it more beneficial to students, not just [academically], but also emotionally,” said Emily Belcastro, the ASB vice president. According to her, this is one of the improvements to community that Leadership is trying to make this year.

Although the original essence of Community will still be there, expect some big changes. After the events of last year involving race-relations, the rising statistic of mental illness in teenagers, and the excessive drug use in our community, leadership wants to do everything in their power to make sure that these issues are addressed. “We’re calling them the three pillars of needs. Drug and alcohol awareness, equity and diversity, and mental and physical wellbeing.” said Meggean Bos- Marquez, the Leadership Director.

These are big issues to tackle, but leadership isn’t doing this alone. They have state standards to meet, which also allows Leadership to have a backbone, helping them to present their curriculum in a more structured way.

“We propose the lesson, we try it out in leadership, we get feedback, and after that we put it on a website for teachers to access,” Bos-Marquez said. This, of course, is a significant endeavor to take on.

Something worthwhile about last year’s Community was the time allowed for homework and talking to teachers. Students will still be able to do so, but the schedule will be more concrete. Each red Community day, will be Leadership’s curriculum. A student representative from Leadership will come to help teachers teach the curriculum that they have put on the Community website. Every white Community day will be TCB (taking care of business). This set up is a great balance of curriculum and schoolwork.

“My personal goal is to use this time as much as possible to work towards achieving goals listed in the plan,” says Cole Daneman, the ASB treasurer. Leadership is very hopeful that Community will be able to make an impact, no matter how small, on the school as a whole and the community that we live in. It is the first step in a journey towards a brighter, safer and more diverse future.