On October 29th at Redwood High School’s gym, people from the school district office to help Redwood put on both a showcase of Redwood to future students and host the Superintendent Student Advisory meeting.
By Chloe Falcon-Barros, Beth Musto, Greer Olson, and Isabel Barycki
The purpose of this event was to get students’ input on important decisions that relate to many topics including student safety, campus culture, and anything they feel would improve their experience Dr. Brandon Gridiron explains.
He says that student voices are important and that Redwood and the district have made a “strategic and intentional” effort to make sure they consider student voice when these types of decisions are being made. He also adds that he hopes students leave feeling like they are impowered and to let everyone know what they want.
Photo: M.LoBue/Gigantea
Though this isn’t the first time and events like this have been held. Stephen Amundson, Coordinator of Student Services in Visalia Unified, explained that these meetings had been previously held over Zoom. But to the school district, it didn’t feel like an effective way to make sure student voices were truly heard.
Amundson details that kids from elementary schools and middle schools who are expected to attend Redwood were grouped for activities.
After collecting student voices in today’s meeting, Amundson says the next steps include going “back to the district office, we’ll have meetings with maybe the school board, we’ll have meetings maybe with site principals, we’ll share what we learned today.”
So, starting this year, VUSD has opted for every high school to hold what Amundson calls, “more of a showcase slash superintendent advisory meeting.”
He also adds that, among collecting opinions and wants, he thinks it also gives future students a chance to see what the school culture like and lets VUSD know how they, “are feeling about school, feeling about school culture, school spirit, and all those good things” beyond just showcasing the flashy details.
Not only did Stephan Amundson attend, but so did Superintendent Kirk Shrum. He reflects on the event by expressing that VUSD plans on doing more in-person events like this and is glad they’ve switched to that method.
Shrum explains that in previous years, the district has been getting lots of feedback from students and thinks this is a good time to really respond. He wants to be able to accommodate everyone while also creating an environment that suits everyone.
It begs the questions of, “how are we creating a culture that celebrates great academics? In addition to accomplishments, sports, clubs, those things, but how do we do more of those pieces?” Shrum explains when discussing what goes into making campus life.
Regarding clubs, the choir, dance, cheer, and band performed for everyone in attendance. Mr. Jordan Ray, Redwood’s band director, explains that despite the little preparation they had for the event, he thinks performances like this keep, “the school spirit going.”
Along with Mr. Ray, Mrs. Elisa Bardonix expresses that this event was a good practice. She explains that even though dance has a busy week with Cowhide, she thinks that since dance had already been preparing for Cowhide, they ended up “being prepared for this event without even knowing.”
While the timing for the event might seem like it wasn’t good, Sophia Diaz, ‘26, Redwood’s ASB president, thinks it fits perfectly with the cowhide festivities.
Diaz says, “This is just a week of absolutely everything,” and this event adds to the madness in just the right way. Not just that, but with cowhide decorations up, “loves how [future students] get to see that.”
Chloe Falcon
Chloe is a class of '26 enthusiasts who loves drama and is a journalist for the Redwood Gigantea.
Email: [email protected]
Beth Musto
Beth Musto, '26, is a fourth-year member of the Redwood Gigantea. She writes for the Clubs & Lifestyles section, and is also the Editor-in-Chief of the paper.She is a part of CSF and is the secretary for the Paperback Rangers Book Club. Her email is, [email protected]
Greer Olson
Greer Olson, '27, is in her fourth year of journalism and an editor for the Student Life section. She enjoys writing about Redwood culture and its diverse population.
Isabel Barycki
Isabel Barycki,´26 is a fourth year journalism member. Inside room 207 you can find her writing for the Features and Clubs and Lifestyles sections for the Redwood Gigantea.
Tags: Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, the branch, visalia ca
