Challenge success meeting aims to improve students’ lives

On Oct. 5, staff and students attended the Challenge Success conference at Stanford University, an event held in an effort to promote positive student growth and curb the unnecessary pressures students face at school.

At the conference, assistant principal Brian Safine, English teacher Amy Keys, math teacher Meghan Pickett, parents Ashley Chao and Mary Eschen, senior Nikhil Goel and sophomore Ingrid Pan listened to keynote speakers alongside other schools and worked with a Challenge Success coach to create SHS-specific areas of improvement.

The conference was designed to renew the concept of what it means to be a well-rounded, healthy student.

According to Safine, the purpose of the conference was to make students “better learners rather than just doing school.”

Pan agreed, saying.

“I guess I was hoping to find a way to spread the word that success isn’t just grades around the school,” Pan said.

According to Goel, the most helpful part of the conference was the group time with a coach, allowing the team to brainstorm ideas that, if put into action, will have a tangible impact in coming years. These ideas include adding an extra late start on a Monday or Friday for students to ask questions in the morning, removing weighted grades and having a collaborative teacher calendar.

The collaborative teacher calendar, which has received unanimous support from ASB and Leadership, would prevent teachers from unknowingly giving high-stakes tests on the same day.

According to assistant principal Brian Safine, Goel proposed that students should play a more active role in the Guidance Department. Rather than teachers explaining to students what to expect for a certain class (i.e., the amount of work required for an AP or honors class in comparison to the college-prep equivalent), students could give testimonials about their experiences in the class, allowing younger students to get a more personal, first-hand account of the difference between AP and college-prep classes.

Although the Challenge Success coach began the group meeting with, according to Goel, “vague, broad vision statements,” Safine quickly stepped in and brought the meeting back on track.

“It was awesome that Mr. Safine brought in his WASC guidelines because it gave us a structured brainstorming session instead of us spending time coming up with broad vision statements that may not have resulted in creating any tangible results from the conference,” Goel said.

Safine approved of the opportunity the meeting provided him.

“In general, whenever you’re able to get a away from the usual flow of school, it’s inherently positive,” Safine said.