Students talked about ways to reach out to the rest of the SDA community in order to gather a larger, less exclusive group at Forum meetings at Friday’s Forum.

Students also discussed the upcoming finals week schedule and the newly introduced after-school classes.

The main topic discussed was the need to gather a bigger, more diversified crowd at the Forum meetings.  The addition of more students to the group discussions would bring more varying opinions

Accommodating a larger crowd in the already packed classrooms would be a challenge, so Forum discussion leader, junior Nate Newman, directed a conversation about possibly relocating the meetings to the Mosaic Café or the PAC.  This way, people walking by might slip in and the monthly meetings popularity would increase dramatically, as it is currently held in room 26, in the corner of campus.

There was also a push for people to get out and tell others about the Forum, being sure to mention the free pizza.  The hope is that kids from every corner of the social scale will come and present their views on topics trending at SDA.

Another topic discussed at the Forum was the upcoming finals week and its schedule.  Many kids had different views on the schedule.  Certain kids said that they did not like it because the class periods were too long, and, because they were at the end of the week, students would not get to say their farewells to their teachers.

Other kids said that they liked the schedule because they would only have a maximum of two finals each day and would get an early dismissal.  Principal Tim Horning and social studies teacher Kerry Koda, who were in attendance, assured the students that this same debate occurs in their teacher meetings.

The last topic that was discussed at this month’s Forum was the soon to be introduced extra-curricular classes.   Horning talked briefly about the new, after-school classes and how he wants students to be interested in taking them.

In an effort to increase the number of students, the classes will be very laid back and casual.  No sign-ups will be required; you can just walk in.  When asked how he would deal with oversized classes, Horning responded, “That is a problem that we want to have.” They intend to begin these extra-curricular classes starting one week into second semester.