Principal Rick Rivera has brought the Principal’s Advisory Council (P.A.C.) from the middle school to the high school. P.A.C. is a way for the teachers and staff to communicate with students about their opinions about school-related subjects. P.A.C. is composed of a group of students from varying grade levels. 

    “It gives students a voice in what’s happening in the building, and it gives me an opportunity to see what they like, what they do not like and what needs improvement,” Rivera said.

    The students that were chosen by Rivera with recommendations from other teachers show leadership academically in the classroom. Some were chosen due to their prior knowledge and involvement in the middle school’s version of P.A.C.

    “I knew some of the seniors and juniors from my time in the middle school,” Rivera said.

    By choosing the students who participate Rivera gets a better mixture of different groups and people. Rivera also said that each person chosen adds different views or opinions to the group. 

    While it is still too early to know for sure if P.A.C. serves its purpose to the school, Rivera is hopeful that P.A.C. will have positive benefits in the future. 

    “We have just started it, so the real test will be at the end of the year. At the middle school, it was good because I got to see where the students were coming from,” Rivera said.

    P.A.C. meetings take place during ACE on the first Thursday of the month.

 In these meetings, students are encouraged to talk about topics they believe need changed, or they can talk about subjects that they like about the school. 

“I was listening to what they say, and they were listening to what I say to help them understand,” Rivera said.

    P.A.C. works both ways. Rivera explained why some things are the way that they are and the students are able to be heard. 

“All intentions with P.A.C. are positive,” Rivera said.