By Brittany Snow | Production Chief

   The School Site Council (SSC) at Gabrielino High School is made up of administration, teachers, students, and parent representatives. Topics of discussion include current issues involving the school and the district, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. 

   Senior Halle Fukawa is the chairperson of the council. She was voted in by other members of the committee. Her duties include leading the discussions, opening and closing the meetings, calling for the approval of motions, and communicating with other members thoroughly and thoughtfully. 

   “Being the chairperson for the Site Council has made me more aware and more appreciative of what goes on behind the scenes at [Gabrielino],” Fukawa explained. “We don’t really think about it, but it’s a lot of hard work and being able to be part of this bigger discussion is so important.”

   Other talking points include necessary student resources, emergency plans, and input from all the members and visitors about the ongoing COVID-19 concerns. 

   “There is a lot that has to happen in order to get students and teachers what they need to make the school work every day,” SSC secretary Kevin Weir stated. “The school has to be run like a business in many ways, with the inventory and monetary requirements. It takes a lot of teamwork and good leadership[ to make things run smoothly.”

   Each student representative has a two-year term unless the first term occurs during their senior year.

   Seniors Fukawa and Jacob Mark are in the final months of their term, along with junior Lauren Chiou. This school year, only one student representative was elected into the council. 

   “When I found out there were a few open spots for student representatives, I put my name in the running,” Chiou said. “I really wanted to be involved in the council and help it in any way possible.”

   Applicants had to fill out a form and explain why they were interested in being a SSC representative by the application deadline, and their names would be placed on the ballot. Any Gabrielino student was permitted to vote. Junior Gabriel Frank-McPheter accumulated the most votes school wide and acquired a seat in the council at the beginning of this school year. 

   Other council members include teacher representatives such as JC Gafford, Kathleen Monahan, and Melissa Romero.

   “It’s fascinating to get a look ‘behind the scenes’ of what it takes to run the school,” Weir added. “Before I started as the SSC secretary, I had no idea of how much work goes into it all.”

   The parent representatives are Paul Liu, Maribel Morales, Richard Quinones, and Gloria Zepeda. 

   On March 10, the SSC held their most recent meeting, where they discussed the new M building on campus, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 surge. Other topics included reviewing input from the Student Senate meeting from March 3. The next council meeting will be on April 14.

   The SSC meetings are held once a month on Wednesday evenings beginning at 6 p.m. Information on the council and prior meetings can be found on the Gabrielino website under the “Parents” tab.