Associated Student Body will be host its first open forum for all students during Tutorial on March 15 in the Media Arts Center atrium at Palo Alto High School.
ASB leaders are holding the event so students can communicate with their elected officials in an informal setting, according to Sophomore Vice President Noga Hurwitz.
“The ASB open forum will be an opportunity for students to not only find out more about how ASB runs and the thoughts behind our decision-making process, but will also provide the chance for members of the Paly community to voice their suggestions and opinions about how we can build a more inclusive and cohesive school,” Hurwitz said.
The panel will include ASB president, vice president, class officers as well as the sports, spirit and social justice commissioners, according to ASB Vice President Anmol Nagar.
“I hope that students would feel like there is a place for them to voice their concerns as well as bring new ideas to ASB,” Nagar said. “I want to encourage very transparent communication between the student body and ASB because really, open communication is the only way that ASB is going to be able to put out school-wide events that the school wants.”
According to Hurwitz, holding such events was a part of ASB’s goals for the year as well as part of an effort to provide a window into the process behind the hosting of school events.
“One of our big goals this year has been transparency, and the student forum will be a way for students to gain a better perspective about school events in a more connection-based way than in the past,” Hurwitz said.
In addition, Nagar addressed previous endeavors ASB has taken to allow students to reach the elected officials.
“We decided to hold this event because earlier there were few ways to communicate directly to ASB besides our advice for ASB [suggestion] box in the library, which is not as widely used as we would hope,” Nagar said.
ASB hopes to incorporate students’ suggestions in future undertakings.
“Based on the results of the forum ASB will work to better align our goals with the student voice, hopefully making the rest of this year and the years to come more enjoyable and memorable,” Hurwitz said.