A key component of the course is mentorship: Each AAR class is assigned two to three mentors — ranging from district parents to local professors to business owners — who regularly check in on students’ progress. According to AAR teacher Rachael Kaci, this model of mentorship has evolved since the course’s development nine years ago.

“Most students, prior to Covid, were assigned to a mentor one-on-one, but we saw such a variance in how the students relied upon the mentors,” she said. “Now that the mentors come into the classroom, they have the opportunity to watch the progress throughout the year and the student growth.” Under these mentors, students learn critical research skills, such as professionalism and writing. Kaci appreciates how the course challenges students to strengthen their soft skills of time management, communication and adaptability.

“Every single year, every student runs into a hiccup,” she said. “It could be a major one — like last year, I had two students who completely pivoted second semester and redid their project. Or, it could be a minor one, like not having enough respondents on a survey.”

SCRAPP

Despite these challenges, AAR students finish the school year with newfound answers to their research questions or having made an impact on an aspect of their community.

For instance, while walking around campus, students might notice green and blue posters with “Don’t Trash Your Planet” in bolded text plastered on any empty wall.

These posters are part of the Sustainability Campaign to Raise Awareness of Plastic Pollution initiative, begun by Social Justice Pathway juniors Phoebe Mota-Judges, Floyd Neesen and Talya Schube this year. SCRAPP’s goal is to motivate Gunn students to clean up trash from school lunches.

“We just saw the problem was so bad,” Neesen said. “If you take a look at the senior and sophomore (quads after lunch), there’s so much (trash). If you’re walking by, you can’t not notice it.”

The group hopes to combat littering by raising awareness. As part of the sensibility campaign, they have created an Instagram account to post videos and infographics about the detriments of non-reusable plastic and the impact of trash on campus.

Although existing posters in each classroom highlight the different materials that go in compost, landfill and recycling, they don’t include all of the wrappings used by the school cafeteria.

“There are reminders to throw away your trash and waste sorting guides that include the (packaging) that is used in the cafeteria,” Neesen said. “The (existing posters) don’t have the things that they use to wrap sandwiches and burgers. We have those.”

Fueled by their determination to improve Gunn’s sustainability, the SCRAPP team has learned valuable skills, such as networking, adaptability and teamwork. According to Schube, there were challenges when working with a lot of people.

“Trying to work on other people’s time, as well as going through a lot of people, was difficult,” she said.

BuddyBonds

AAR projects also extend beyond Gunn’s boundaries. For instance, juniors Namya Kasturi, Samhita Krishnan and Lia O’Donovan have worked to combat elders’ loneliness in Palo Alto through pen pal assignments this year. In collaboration with Palo Alto Commons, a retirement community, they sent a sign-up form to the home’s residents and are currently waiting to hear back.

From the beginning of the brainstorming process, O’Donovan and her team knew their main goal was to build community.

“We wanted to create intergenerational events between the elderly population and teenagers, and we were hoping to branch out to other schools and care homes to work with,” she said.

For O’Donovan, this project stemmed from her desire to become closer to elderly family members.

“I live far away from my grandparents, so when I get to talk to them, it’s very special,” she said. “I know that I have older neighbors on my street and I feel very connected to them when I get to talk to them a lot. I wanted to form that bond for others.”

Although BuddyBonds originally wanted to organize student groups to go to retirement homes, they had to adapt their idea, as finding a retirement home willing to partner with them was much harder than expected.

“It’s taught me a lot about moving on and how to make a change in a community that isn’t sheltered by a class, because this is something we could have done outside of AAR,” she said. “I learned that it’s the real world.”

Staff mental health

AAR is more than hands-on work, however: Students must also write up their findings in a formal paper. As sophomore Alisa Sonehara begins drafting her research paper, she needs to cite information from other sources while still integrating her own ideas.

Luckily, she has the support of experienced mentors to help analyze and organize her data. She also uses generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, which help check that her writing is clear, concise and, most importantly, accurate. With these resources, Sonehara has been able to delve into staff mental-health supports in �������ϲ���Ļ����.

While Sonehara originally planned to research students’ mental health, she ultimately shifted her focus to staff, in light of district staffing shortages and new support initiatives following the pandemic.

“I wanted to see the type of support they are getting because I think there’s a lot of awareness and support for students right now, and there’s a lot more talk about it compared to educators,” she said. “I feel like educators deserve the same attention for mental health, because they matter a lot too.”

Sonehara was surprised to find that improving certain areas of mental health isn’t within the county specialist’s purview.

“For example, in the Healthy Kids Survey, if a teacher’s respondents are saying how they don’t have a good work environment, the mental health specialist isn’t really directed from the district to help improve that — she’s kind of just working on the overall view of the support for mental health,” she said. “That kind of surprised me because I feel like she could do a lot to help (those particular areas) as well.”

According to Kaci, this long-term, hands-on investigation makes AAR unique. With the wealth of professional resources and guidance, she recommends the course to anyone passionate about something and unable to find a class on campus that caters to their interests.

“You’re placed with a mentor or a manager and in a field that’s different from the traditional classroom and still get credits to put on your transcript, so that’s why I like (AAR),” she said. “Don’t shy away if you’re nervous about research — we can help anyone.”

For freshman Sara Su, who does contemporary and Chinese traditional dance at the Academy of Palo Alto Performing Arts, this physique always seemed ideal for a dancer. Her studio does not enforce these body standards as harshly as other studios, but Su has met dancers who have struggled to fit themselves into this image. Her dance teacher, for instance, attended a special dance school in China that required their students to remain very lean.

“They had to weigh themselves to make sure they were within a range that was acceptable,” she said. “If they wanted to go to a specialty dance college, they had to take different body measurements, and that was a big part of whether you could get in or not. I’ve heard about these standards all the time — people really struggling to fit into these standards and people who are malnourished because of it.”

Surrounded by younger dancers at her studio, Su has also felt these standards harm her self-esteem.

“I dance with a lot of younger girls, who haven’t really hit puberty yet and are really lean,” she said. “There was a period of time when standing next to them, there was a really big comparison. It was like everyone else on the team was super lean, and then there was me. It’s kind of hard to look at yourself like that, even though I was at a healthy weight for my age.”

Su believes these standards exist because of the emphasis on visual elements in dance: Audience members observe the dancers’ “lines,” critiquing the lightness or grace of their movements. There are trade-offs to creating a slimmer image to conform to these standards, which can damage dancers’ health.

“When you try to become skinnier, you eat less, and when you eat less, you don’t have enough energy — it’s kind of like a domino effect,” Su said.

“It’s affected me because, while looking more aesthetically pleasing, I don’t have enough energy for different techniques that I have to do on stage. And I don’t think that’s a worthy sacrifice.”

As she has furthered her dance training through the years, Su has come to realize that physique is not the sole distinguisher of a great dancer.

“I had to learn that looking visually pleasing doesn’t just mean that you have to be skinny,” she said. “It’s also about how you’re able to interpret the music, express your emotions and do your technique. All those things contribute to being visually pleasing — it’s not just about your body type.”

The victory was refreshing for Wong, especially following a final week of intense competition.

“It felt like all the weight was lifted off my shoulders,” he said. “I was so paranoid, especially the last week, because you could get eliminated at any time.”

As the rules intensified, Wong’s primary strategies were hiding in the bathrooms and finding targets through mutual connections. Teacher cooperation was also critical to keeping him safe from other players.

“My English teacher was really rooting for me, so she let me stay in class and wrote me passes,” he said. “All my teachers were very supportive of me, like letting me come to class sometimes a little late.”

This year’s calendar had its fair share of challenging, and sometimes humiliating, rules — the hardest being the day when players had to hold their plushie against a wall to stay safe, according to Wong.

“There are kind of these breaks in between (the walls), so you have to sprint through those and hope no one catches you there,” he said. “My hand also got really tired.”

Nevertheless, Elimination allowed Wong to find and meet many new people, particularly seniors and freshmen, whom he normally does not interact with. Thus, he encourages everyone to play Elimination, especially freshmen.

For future players, Wong recommends hiding in the bathrooms, cooperating with teachers and making as many connections as possible. He also advises following all the rules, despite how ridiculous they may sound.

“The second week, a lot of people didn’t wear wigs or ‘jorts,’” he said. “Even if you lose that little dignity, it’s worth it.”

These resignations reflect increasing turmoil in higher education. Although controversy on college campuses is nothing new, the Israel-Hamas war and the Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action have precipitated a new wave of battles for institutions. As accusations, controversies and resignations play out, the future of free speech, inclusion and academic integrity.

The Limits of Free Speech

On Dec. 5, three elite U.S. university presidents — Gay, Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth — testified before the U.S. Congress on the topic of campus antisemitism following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. While the presidents recognized the rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia on their campuses and said they were taking steps to address the issue, their answers were widely condemned. When asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ codes of conduct, the presidents failed to provide clear answers, saying that it depended on context and whether the speech was reflected in conduct.

Politicians, alumni and university donors alike attacked their legalistic, ambiguous responses, leading to calls for the presidents’ resignations. Both Gay and Magill resigned within a month, with Gay’s resignation marking the shortest presidential tenure in Harvard’s history. Currently, Kornbluth retains her position as MIT’s president.

The congressional hearing had implications extending beyond the three university campuses, fueling debates over which forms of speech are protected by the First Amendment — especially at educational institutions dedicated to diversity of thought and perspective. Social studies teacher Laurel Howard highlighted the difficulties in navigating conversations about geopolitical conflicts like the Israel-Hamas war.

“We used to say when you’re talking about these polarized issues, you have to have both sides represented,” she said. “But as these kinds of conflicts come up, when you say you support one side, people immediately assume that means you want the death of another group. We jump to these extremes really quickly, and that makes it a really dangerous thing to have these open conversations even though they’re so important to be having.”

She explained that even with legal guidelines, there is not always a clear-cut answer for what constitutes free speech.

“We do have guidance in our constitution and in the Supreme Court cases about free speech that say if it’s speech that immediately leads to violence, it is not protected,” she said. “So that’s what I come back to personally. Is this speech trying to incite violence against another group? If so, we probably should not be protecting it. The larger conversation is, when are we getting to that point? At what point does my language lead directly to violence, and how do we determine that collectively?”

Gunn alumna and current UPenn sophomore Sage Leland believes that there’s an important distinction between legally sanctioned and morally permissible speech.

“I think that distinction is something that the university should try to make, where it’s not so much restricting speech but drawing the line of community-minded speech,” she said. “Even if legally you could say something, is it the right thing to say? Should you be saying it?”

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Gay was Harvard’s first Black president, and her resignation fueled the on-going conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — in higher education. Since early last year, conservative lawmakers and academics have sought to undermine colleges’ DEI efforts, with anti-DEI legislation being introduced in at least 21 states since 2021, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The bills aim to ban diversity training, employment and funding for DEI offices, and the use of diversity statements and identity-based preferences in admissions and employment.

As white men continue to constitute the majority of U.S. college presidents, Howard noted the intense pressure on university officials such as Gay who come from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.

“Nobody wants to be reduced to just their racial identity or just their gender identity,” she said. “It shows that the bar is so high, and there’s so much scrutiny on people who are thought to have received those positions because of their identity.”

Debates over systemic DEI are not new, but recent events have resulted in further polarization. According to social studies teacher Tara Firenzi, DEI should come naturally, and conflicts can easily be avoided.

“This question of diversity, equity and inclusion really should be a no-brainer for everybody,” she said. “It’s been manipulated in order to inspire passionate responses that often end up falling along political lines to benefit certain political actors. It goes back to a lot of the ideals of our country. We should make amends for injustices of the past in ways that are fair and equitable. These are things that most of us can agree on.”

Although Leland recognizes UPenn’s efforts to support DEI, she doesn’t always feel or see the effects as a student.

“I think meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion work that addresses all marginalized communities — not just focusing on one — and that reaches more individual students is something that is super important, instead of just pledging to do something and not actually doing it,” she said.

Academic Integrity

In addition to the controversy from the congressional hearing, Gay’s resignation resulted from an investigation of plagiarism during her academic career. The fallout was similar to that of Tessier-Lavigne’s resignation in August 2023 after he was accused of academic misconduct in and mismanagement of his past studies. More recently, former MIT professor Neri Oxman was found to have plagiarized sources such as Wikipedia in her dissertation. Oxman’s husband, billionaire and hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman, was one of Gay’s most notable critics and had tried to remove Gay from Harvard’s board, according to the New York Times.

This recent pattern of events brings an underlying crisis of academic integrity to light. Yet situations like Oxman’s and Gay’s make it clear that plagiarism accusations are not entirely apolitical: They have become entangled with debates over free speech and DEI. In an interview with Politico, published on Jan. 3, conservative activist Christopher Rufo acknowledged that the plagiarism allegations against Gay were made by specific figures and news outlets to dismantle her legitimacy, especially regarding new DEI programs.

Many of these attacks stemmed from not blatant plagiarism but subtle replication of ideas with a lack of citation. Because the line be-
tween plagiarism and originality can be murky, Howard urges all of her students to be safe rather than sorry.

“It’s really common if you’re doing a lot of research to accidentally replicate something,” Howard said. “Obviously, if you’re pulling from another person’s work and if your thoughts directly match their progression, even if you use your own words, it’s really important to cite that kind of thing.”

Firenzi believes that intentionality is the key distinguisher of plagiarism.

“I think plagiarism is when you knowingly and intentionally are taking someone else’s work and representing it as your own,” Firenzi said. “And that can be verbatim or it can be in substance. I think it’s not as black-and-white as it may seem to a lot of people.”

These attacks on university leadership have brought along another wave of skepticism toward educational institutions: The percentage of young adults believing in the importance of a college degree has fallen from 74% in the early 2010s to about 40% in recent years, according to the New York Times. Still, some have questioned whether these resignations were necessary and if the backlash was too harsh.

“In all of these cases, the question of degree has been at the heart of the debate,” Firenzi said. “It really behooves everyone to be extremely careful about any time you’re using someone else’s work, and making absolutely sure that you’re giving all the credit that you can for it and not cutting corners.”

Furthermore, Firenzi highlighted the importance of understanding the nuances of these issues — from academic integrity to free speech — in Palo Alto, a highly educated community.

“These things are probably felt more prominently here than they are in a lot of other places,” she said. “That brings with it an awareness that ultimately benefits our students — that you do have to do these things in a way that puts both integrity, equity and inclusion front and center and ensures that proper credit is given for ideas and words to the authors that created them.”

On Dec. 12, students, staff and parents gathered in the library for Gunn Site Council’s biannual Data Night. During the meeting, they analyzed data sets to assess Gunn’s effectiveness in meeting the goals of the School Plan for Student Achievement and Western Association of Schools and Colleges. These data sets included student performance on standardized tests, surveys on well-being, grade reports, and Advanced Placement and honors course enrollment. 

This year, the CAASPP and iReady assessments saw participation rates of about 96% and 98%, respectively. CAASPP English Language Arts and math scores, while still higher than the state average, saw a slight decline from last year. Some groups attributed the drop to the over 10% increase in participation. Students and staff recommended stronger support for lower-scoring socioeconomically disadvantaged students, incentives for students to give their full effort on the test, possible short breaks between tests and CAASPP testing before junior year.

Data from the iReady assessment, which gauges students’ literacy levels, showed that the proportion of students reading at mid or above grade level decreased as grade level increased. Moreover, 69% of students needing an intervention didn’t have access to a support class. In response to these observations, groups proposed that the district increase awareness about  available support courses, provide more intervention classes, be more transparent with iReady score releases, and, as with the CAASPP test, create stronger incentives for students to take the test seriously. 

Junior Melinda Huang was among those who studied the iReady data. 

“We were pleasantly surprised at the high percentage of schoolwide participation,” she said. “As part of our brainstorm, we took notes on possibly seeking why students do not or have not accessed this support and how we can best address student needs.” 

Participants also discussed measures of student well-being. Data from the Panorama Survey, which documents students’ perception of their social-emotional skills and school environment, showed mostly upward trends in students’ cultural awareness, race-related discussion, respect from teachers and sense of belonging. However, students and staff noted low ratings in positive feelings, physical and psychological safety, availability of interest-based courses and support for underrepresented students in advanced classes. The Challenge Success survey, which also measures student well-being and engagement with learning, had similar results, with many students using adjectives such as “stressful” and “competitive” to describe Gunn.

Groups also looked at data from D/F/NM/I reports, which document the number of non-passing grades in subgroups of the student population.  This year saw a high distribution of “No Mark” grades compared to the other grade values because of new policies documenting an F grade as No Mark on student transcripts. Some participants argued that this shift created incentives for failing a course instead of working toward a D grade, which more drastically changes a student’s GPA. Students proposed documenting a D as Pass, which would allow those courses to be taken again over the summer.  

The last set of data comprised Advanced Placement and Honors course enrollment by grade and demographic for the 2023-24 school year. Following the 2020-21 school year, there has been an increase in AP/Honors enrollment, with the average senior taking three or more AP classes. However, groups questioned whether the data reflected completion or simply enrollment, given the high number of schedule changes and dropped classes each year. To support recruitment and retention of students in higher-level classes, some suggested conducting an exit survey to understand students’ motivations for dropping courses. 

With increased student participation from previous years, Data Night fostered a variety of perspectives and feedback. According to senior Maya Perkash, the meeting provided valuable insights into data influencing decisions related to equity, academic performance and well-being. 

“It was good to see how certain pieces of data that I wouldn’t think are actually representative of student needs are seen differently by other people,” she said. “I was particularly interested in seeing the data for mental wellness, how they utilize it to pull kids out for checkups.”

To ensure students with disabilities receive equitable instruction, all U.S. schools are subject to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, which guarantees funding for schools that fulfill a set of requirements around SpEd. An effective SpEd program must consider the level of integration with General Education classes, staff training and the needs of individual students.

Background

SpEd at �������ϲ���Ļ���� and Gunn comprises multiple programs, which can be adapted to support the differing needs of all students with disabilities. At �������ϲ���Ļ����, students enter the SpEd program when a parent or staff member submits a verbal or written referral to the district. The referred student’s parents then work with district staff to decide the student’s eligibility for an individualized education program, taking into account the student’s academic history, along with a reading and math assessment administered by �������ϲ���Ļ����.

According to Gunn Special Education Coordinator Teri Lee, students can enter the SpEd program if they have a disability that impacts their learning and need accommodations. Students with mild to moderate disabilities sometimes struggle with speech or attention span and don’t usually require an in-class aide. Students with moderate to severe disabilities, however, often require the assistance of a specialized aide or teacher throughout the school day.

Outside of the entry process, SpEd plans differ greatly from student to student. For students with mild learning difficulties, IEPs focus on making their in-class experiences easier, including accommodations such as extra time on tests, the option to take exams in quiet settings, frequent teacher check-ins and movement breaks. These accommodations aim to help students participate in GenEd classes alongside their peers.

The Futures program, least integrated with GenEd classes, serves students with moderate to severe learning differences. Although daily schedules and activities vary from student to student, most Futures students spend three periods in GenEd classes and four periods in a specialized classroom where they receive additional support.

Integration

One of IDEA’s major goals is to keep all students in the same classroom “to the maximum extent appropriate to the education needs of the students with disabilities.” However, “maximum extent appropriate” varies from student to student, and opinions sometimes differ on what the correct measure is.

According to Lee, Gunn incorporates students into GenEd as much as possible, providing accommodations and separate classes if necessary.

“We always want to start in General Education, and then based on the student’s needs, work our way back from there,” she said.

Some schools are built around a philosophy of maximum inclusion, such as Hope Technology School, a private school in Palo Alto. HTS follows the Universal Design for Learning model, putting students in the same classroom as much as possible and accommodating all learners’ needs and abilities. HTS classrooms ensure that students are all able to participate in class by adding occasional breaks and flexible amounts of classwork.

Although the UDL model might help some students with disabilities, having all students in the same classroom for more challenging classes can frustrate SpEd and GenEd students alike. Yael Naveh, a parent of a Futures student, said that putting her child in GenEd classes when he isn’t at the same level as the rest of the class inhibits his learning.

“Sticking a kid like mine in an algebra class when he’s doing second-grade-level (math) doesn’t really have much meaning for him,” she said. “And it’s not necessarily constructive to him learning, because all that will happen will be that he will have to work on something completely different.”

Momoyo Yanagihara, a parent of a Futures student, pointed out that SpEd has to focus both on inclusion and educational level.

“I just want my son to be in an appropriate environment for him, and that may mean (being) excluded sometimes,” Yanagihara said. “If he’s in a regular PE class, he might have fun, but sometimes it might not be the right level for him.”

Parent Tina Chow, however, whose son freshman Nikolaos Chow uses a letter board to communicate, believes more coordination and creativity with UDL approaches is needed in order to make the GenEd curriculum more inclusive.

“(Other students) are talking back and forth, and who’s going to wait for Nikolaos to spell out his answer?” she said. “So what would be a UDL way to approach that? Maybe everybody has to provide written answers, instead of just blurting them out, so then he has time to write something.” Unlike Gunn, HTS’ smaller class sizes make focusing on individual needs significantly easier and the UDL model more feasible. HTS’ model, however, requires significant time and attention that many Gunn teachers and aides cannot afford.

That being said, Gunn’s Unity PE is a powerful tool for inclusion. Unity PE puts GenEd students in the same class as SpEd students, enabling students to help and form friendships with one another. Naveh and Yanagihara have praised Unity PE for providing their students with social interactions and friendships that extend outside of school.

Gunn also offers co-taught classes, which are instructed by two teachers and occasionally an aide, as another way to keep students in one classroom. Co-taught classes include students with and without learning challenges, allowing those with moderate learning differences to remain in a classroom with their peers not in SpEd. Social studies teacher Patrick Rode, who co-teaches two classes, noted how the format is also helpful for teachers.

“It almost forces you to be more creative and provide more opportunities or different learning strategies for all of the learners in the classroom,” he said.

Rode also mentioned that co-taught classes benefit GenEd students by exposing them to alternative learning styles.

“I love having the students work together because you get multiple perspectives,” Rode said. “And that’s a life skill. … Starting at the high school level for the students is really beneficial.”

Staffing Shortages

Staffing district SpEd programs proves a challenge nationwide, according to Gunn SpEd Instructional Lead Briana Gonzalez.

“There’s such an incredible shortage when it comes to not only instructional aides for SpEd but also qualified educational specialists,” she said. “This shortage can absolutely lead to challenges, such as providing individualized support and attention for students with IEPs.”

For Nikolaos Chow, this shortage of aides has made participation in GenEd classes like Algebra II/Trigonometry Honors difficult.

“It takes me a long time to write my responses, and the aide needs to have specialized training to know how to support me with the letter board,” he spelled out on the letter board. “The school knows that I need this support, and they are providing training to the aides, but it is not enough. It is almost December and we have explained the need for training to the school many times, but there have been so many delays. This basically means that I cannot participate in class by sharing my opinions or thoughts, and so it is easy to get super frustrated because I am not able to really be included.”

Tina Chow emphasized the need for specialized training in order for aides to become familiar with the student and their learning method. As aides come and go, however, familiarity with individual students is often jeopardized, and existing aides must take on additional responsibilities. Instructional aide Keanna Martinez explains that this creates much more stress and pressure.

“Having one-on-ones is definitely a lot easier because each kid needs that certain attention, and when we have (shortages), we’re not able to fully commit ourselves to one student and give our day our all because we’re running around going from Point A to Point B,” she said. “If another aide gets sick or has to go somewhere, we have to move one aide to another aide’s spot, and it’s like a domino effect of problem after problem if we don’t get that necessary support.”

Gunn is working to hire and train more aides to support a diverse array of students, according to Gonzalez. For instance, instructional aides were invited to participate in teacher development days and meet with the teachers that they’re supporting this year.

“They sat with those teachers and together reviewed instructional accommodations, and also which strategies (they’ve) observed that are working or not working,” she said. “It’s something I hope we can continue to do because this is really how we make sure that instructional aides are part of the conversation.”

Fostering Inclusivity

With Gunn’s broad range of SpEd programs, Gonzalez said an inclusive environment is especially important because of the stigma that exists surrounding SpEd.

“Students may hold stereotypes or lack in understanding of the diverse abilities that exist among all our Gunn High School students,” she said.

She noted that daily language, which shapes our perception of the world, plays a major role in enforcing or dismantling the stigma around SpEd and disability.

“If we can change our own language here at Gunn so it’s more inclusive, that’s encouraging respective communication, which builds toward creating a respective, positive, inclusive atmosphere,” she said.

For example, she proposes changing the “handicapped spot” in the parking lot to “accessible parking,” de-emphasizing the presence of a disability.

According to SpEd Specialist Sandra Conklin, GenEd students can also create an inclusive environment, by being open to learning from SpEd students, who are just like other teenagers.

“Everyone is different; we all have gifts and we have something to offer the community,” she said. “They’re teenagers. They want to have friends — they have crushes. They happen to have a couple more challenges, but they also have some gifts that other people don’t have.”

Many opportunities exist for GenEd students to interact with SpEd students, both inside and outside the classroom. Conklin encourages students to join Unity PE and the Best Buddies Club, which meets on Thursdays in Room F-2 and brings students together through activities like board games, cooking and sports. She adds that even the simplest gestures can make a difference in SpEd students’ experiences at Gunn.

“If you’re walking around a campus and you see a Special Ed student sitting by themselves, ask them to join you,” she said. “Volunteer to take some kids to assemblies (and) reach out to include the kids in what you would normally do in a high school day because these are often kids who don’t have that group that they go to assemblies and dances with.”

Gonzalez believes that this kind of inclusivity should be a goal of not only students but educators as well.

“For teachers, regardless of subject — whether it’s a co-taught course or an honors course or AP — we should always be thinking and implementing changes in our teaching style and curriculum to support all students,” she said. “Each generation we have a new group of learners. Technology has changed, curriculum has grown, information has changed. I think we ourselves also have to.”

As a fourth-generation pilot, Kochenderfer grew up hearing stories of her grandpa’s flight school and her father’s training. Beginning ground school the summer before her sophomore year, she devoted hours to studying traffic patterns and aircraft systems in preparation for the Federal Aviation Administration written exam. That summer, Kochenderfer also flew a plane for the first time. “I remember going onto the runway and pushing in the throttle all the way for the first time, realizing that I was fully in control,” she said. “I don’t have words to describe that — it was incredible.”

Since then, Kochenderfer has continued to train at the Palo Alto Airport one to three times a week. She is currently working on flying at night, which requires a greater dependence on instruments inside the cockpit because of the darkness outside.

While she is qualified for the next step in the process, the in-flight and oral exam, aviation policies regarding mental health have made it difficult for Kochenderfer to receive the required medical certificate. She hopes to initiate conversations about mental health  between pilots and the FAA to make these standards more realistic and accessible.

Kochenderfer’s favorite part about aviation is seeing the world from a different perspective and the tight-knit community she has formed with other pilots. “Especially because it’s a very male dominated field, being able to find other women and other young women who want to do this is really special to me,” she said. “There are so many people within the industry that have worked hard to get there.”

Her aviation experience also helps her hone skills that she can apply to other aspects of her life. “It’s helped me understand things in my classes a lot better, like physics, environmental science and even math,” she said. “But I would say the most important skill I’ve learned is being able to admit what you don’t know. When you’re flying, you’re responsible for your life, the lives of the people that you’re flying and anything that happens. Communicating with air traffic control and being able to follow through with procedures is the most important thing, so being able to say ‘I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do here’ can save you and your passengers’ lives.”

Beyond high school, Kochenderfer hopes to major in aerospace engineering and continue flying. She also hopes to someday try aerobatics, in which planes perform acrobatic maneuvers such as intense spins, drops and formation flying.

Although most of the priority areas carried over from last year, Innovation replaced Healthy Attendance in this year’s Promise following more consistent attendance and increased interest in new artificial intelligence tools. Key subgoals include incorporating technology into curriculum and instruction, increasing students’ access to postsecondary opportunities. Because these goals are recent and constantly evolving, �������ϲ���Ļ���� Board Member Shana Segal explained the importance of engaging students. “We’ve been hearing that it’s hard for students to attend after-school committee meetings, so we’re trying to hold more meetings during lunch and use the feedback to guide teaching practices and improve learning experiences,” she said. “As a board member, I’m very appreciative of students who come and speak because I take the words of every student into account and find it very meaningful.”

Serve and Celebrate Others, defined in the 2022-23 annual report as “building people up through positive interactions and acknowledging those who invest in others,” has been a long-standing priority of the district. Still, Board President Jennifer DiBrienza noted that it continues to adopt new meanings. “We have a long history of expecting kids to do community service and then putting it on their transcript,” she said. “But we’re trying to move from doing it for credit to doing it because it’s a worthwhile thing to do. There are so many amazing things our staff does — we’re trying to recognize those.” Examples of this recognition include the traveling builder helmet, awarded to employees who are positively impacting their communities, and the State Seal of Civic Engagement, awarded to civically active high schoolers.

Post-pandemic, Mental Health and Wellness has been another district priority, and it is one that DiBrienza expects will remain in future Promises.

In addition to providing tiered levels of support based on student needs and expanding the Social Emotional Learning curriculum, the district is also working to bolster staff mental health support, according to Principal Wendy Stratton. “We now have a therapist for staff that anyone can reach out to, and I’ve already heard from some Gunn staff who said they’ve reached out,” she said. “I think it’s so important that staff are supported because they’re on the front lines of working with our students.”

The goals of Early Literacy and Equity and Excellence were also renewed from last year’s Promise. Data from the iReady Assessment, Smarter Balanced Assessment and Panorama Survey indicate that the district has made strides in supporting the academic achievement of underrepresented groups and the development of a more diverse and inclusive curriculum.

Stratton hopes that Gunn will continue to progress in both areas this year by maximizing resources and opportunities in equitable ways. “To interrupt predictable patterns of performance for target groups’ students, we know that you have to look at many areas, like school climate, curriculum and instruction, and community engagement,” she said. “We’re working hard at Gunn with the SLAM (Student Leaders Anti-Racist Movement) program, the Student Leaders for Equity and the diversity commissioners on SEC to have more events that celebrate all of our different students and make them feel seen and special for who they are.”

The Gunn garden was created over 25 years ago, but has undergone numerous modifications over the years, according to Organic Garden Club Co-Adviser Elizabeth Matchett. When the Miranda driveway was rebuilt about 15 years ago, the garden was moved to its present location, using a district-provided irrigation system to combat an ongoing drought and a lack of sprinklers. The garden also faced challenges when the

club shifted to online meetings during the pandemic. “During COVID, the garden was very much neglected,” Matchett said. “We still had the (Organic Garden Club) come meet online, and we told the kids they could go over to the garden when they had time, as long as they were by themselves or 6 feet apart from each other. When (in-person) school restarted, that was one of the first clubs that we restarted again because we could be outside.”

Organic Garden Club Vice President junior Fiona Li was one of the students who joined the club while it met online. She emphasized how Organic Garden Club welcomes all experience levels and aims to help students learn more about horticulture, whether it be through presentations or work in the garden. “The stereotype of a gardener (might be) an old lady or a buff dude, but you don’t have to be any of those — anyone can join,” Li said. “Even if you’ve never raised a plant in your life, that’s okay. It’s not all about raising plants. A lot of it is about doing work to make the garden look better.”

Li also noted how the club provides a place for her to enjoy the benefits of hard work. “My favorite part about the club is seeing everything we’ve planted right when it’s at its peak,” she said. “Seeing the tomatoes all at t

heir peak and tasting a tomato is always so good. The satisfaction you get from eating a tomato that you’ve planted is just different.”

To Matchett, this sense of fulfillment is what makes gardening valuable to students. “What I see as the main benefit of the garden, more than anything else, is it allows you to get in touch with the earth,” she said. “(You can) touch the flowers, touch the plants, see how they grow (and) learn about where food comes from. I think it’s an important form of education that doesn’t get covered in any other part of our curriculum.”

The garden benefits those outside of the club as well: Its plants are used in Gunn’s culinary arts classes to make risotto and garnishes for chicken dishes. Cindy Peters, culinary arts teacher and Organic Garden Club co-adviser, chooses to use organic garden-grown ingredients because they don’t contain pesticides. Furthermore, no vitamins are lost, as would be the case if the ingredients had been shipped to a ma

rket.

In the future, Peters would like to see both the garden and gardening enthusiast community expand. “I want to see the club size bigger, and I want to see kids that are really interested in gardening and really want to improve the garden,” she said. “They work hard and don’t care about getting their hands a little dirty.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

The garden contains various types of flowers, such as native California poppies.

Such were the thoughts of ten Japanese students as they boarded a plane for America on March 25. Meanwhile, ten Gunn students cleared an extra room in each of their homes in preparation for Gunn’s first Japanese homestay program. The program, organized by Japanese teacher Matthew Hall in conjunction with Masaki Nakamura from the Terakoya Program, sought to provide students from various Japanese high schools with the opportunity to follow Gunn students through school and their daily life for three days, as well as attend tours of Google, Apple and Stanford campuses. 

Although Advanced Placement Japanese students were given priority, Hall opened participation in the program to all levels of students in Gunn’s Japanese program as a chance to learn more about the language and culture they had been studying. “It’s one thing to learn in the classroom, (and) it’s another thing to learn from the person sitting right next to you,” he said. “It’s always good when people from another country break bread together. There’s a phrase that says, ‘It’s harder to hate somebody when you know their story.’ We need to learn their stories and they need to learn our stories.”

To teach her exchange student, Moka Higashihira, more about American culture, junior Emma Cao brought her to a variety of places and provided her with foods unique to the area. “Yesterday night, we went downtown, and she said it reminded her of a place in Japan,” Cao said. “Tonight we plan on going to Santana Row, so she can do some shopping. It’s been nice to reflect on being grateful for the place we live in and also explain its history.” 

Since neither are fluent in the other’s language, however, Cao explained that certain challenges arose in communication. “I do wish I could speak to her in Japanese more fluently, so we can get on that level,” she said. “When you’re not speaking in your native language, you’re not really the same person, so that’s kind of a barrier in our personalities.” Cao also noted that these challenges extended to nonverbal communication. “When Japanese exchange students come, they tend to be very polite about things,” she said. “Even if they don’t like something, they’ll do it and won’t tell you that they don’t like it. It’s been hard to try and tell what they actually want (and) how to read the cues and body language.” 

Nevertheless, Cao learned to overcome communication barriers with English-to-Japanese translation tools such as Jisho and Google Translate. She was also able to improve her speaking abilities through conversing with Higashihira. “I’m really grateful for this opportunity because I get to learn a lot of slang and casual phrases,” she said. “Like ‘traffic’ in Japanese is ‘kotsu,’ but they don’t say ‘kotsu ga warui’ (the traffic is bad). Instead, they use the phrase ‘michi ga konde iru’ (the roads are crowded).”

Similarly, the program served as a learning experience for both the Japanese and Gunn students to examine the differences between Japanese and American culture. For instance, senior Talise Baker-Matsuoka’s exchange student, Sawako Akasaka, noticed that Gunn’s school environment differed from that of her school in Japan. “American classes have much freedom,” she said. “I can eat snacks and drinks, (which is) different from (in) Japan. Also, in (Japanese schools) we have one big building, and that’s it. In America, you have many buildings and students move around between them and it takes time to do so.”

Baker-Matsuoka realized differences regarding food and eating habits as well. “Americans are often like, ‘Here’s the fridge, go eat all the food,’ but Japanese people won’t just go eat your food if you don’t give it to them,” she said. “Also, one thing you do in Japan is you have to clear your plate completely, but in the U.S., you don’t have to do that. We’re used to piling food on top and then having leftovers, but in Japan, you eat everything.” 

Overall, learning new things about American culture through the homestay program was an exciting experience for junior Maya Nieman’s Japanese student, Iwata Sae. Her favorite part in particular was eating American fast food. “There’s a lot of fast-food eating,” she said. “In Japan, we have McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken, but we’ll maybe eat it once every two weeks. I like the food very much here.”