By Anjuli Niyogi, Editor-in-Chief
On Wednesday, April 21, the Mills Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) held a Q&A with an MHS Alumni Student Panel to answer your questions regarding school reopening, graduation, and more. The MHS Student Alumni panel included MHS graduates from the classes of 2017, 2018, and 2019. The following alumni were present: Zane Girouard (c/o 2017), Joseph Bonavia (c/o 2018), Tiana Monge (c/o 2018), Rhys Girouard (c/o 2019), and Celeste Henry (c/o 2019).
Before the Q&A began, PTO president Karen Bettucchi gave several updates about the remaining months of school. The PTO will be distributing special ribbon leis to all seniors in the class of 2021 this year which will be picked up at the same time as cap and gown distribution. Funds like the Mills Annual Fund and Rapid Relief Fund are still in the process of collecting and distributing donations (the former having raised $67,000 so far). The Millbrae Lions Club is also hosting an online silent auction and will be having a live auction this month, with its proceeds going towards Millbrae youth and Mills students included.
Mills administration also provided several updates regarding school reopening and changes to COVID-19 protocols. As of April 26th, student cohorts A & B will be combined due to the low numbers of students on campus during a regular school block day; this will allow all students who opted in for a hybrid model to come on to campus four days a week now, instead of the previous two days a week. Wednesdays will still be distance learning for all teachers and students. On April 27th, the SAT was administered to juniors and all other students stayed at home for virtual classes. Indoor competitions have also begun for basketball, volleyball, and wrestling, with two spectators from a team member’s household being allowed at a game. The Adams Family musical was also highlighted by Principal Duszynski during this time. Four live performances were offered to Mills students and community members on the weekend of April 23-25.
After announcements had been made by Bettucchi and Principal Duszynski, the Q&A portion of the meeting commenced. Alumni provided advice for making the most of students’ time at Mills, spoke on how Mills prepared them for their future college and career endeavors, and gave tips for staying motivated and getting involved in school during these isolating times.
The alumni were first asked by Bettucchi how the pandemic had affected them and their school. The majority of the alumni had similar responses to this question, stating their college’s transition to online learning in March of 2020. All of them had virtual classes for their fall 2020 semester. Joseph Bonavia, a Mills alumnus from the class of 2018 and current Massachusetts of Technology student, spoke about his college’s protocols for in-person learning. He clarified that seniors were allowed on campus for the fall semester of this school year and that freshmen, sophomores, and juniors were for their spring semester. He expressed the benefits of in-person labs in college as well as the importance of establishing a strong pod of friends to study with and stay motivated.
Alumni were then asked about suggestions for students struggling to do well academically and how students can get motivated about learning. Meeting participants expressed the difficulty in answering this question with a straightforward, clear answer. Still, Skyline Student and Mills alumni from the class of 2019, Celeste Henry spoke to the importance of peer-to-peer connections in providing an outlet for keeping motivation levels high. She noted how “peer-to-peer interactions are what are missed” with distance learning and that something as small as time in “breakout rooms to connect with others gives students a push academically”. Bonavia reiterated Henry’s point; “students are good at motivating each other.”
Alumni were then asked to describe how Mills had both socially and academically prepared them for their college and university years.
Tiana Monge, a Mills alumnus from the class of 2018 and a current music student at San Francisco State University, provided some background to her social experiences at Mills. She described herself as more introverted and reliant on her close group of friends, but was grateful for those “assigned groups [where we] learned how to communicate effectively […] especially if a grade was involved”. Mills alumni and sons of Mills teacher Denise Dreyer, Rhys and Zane Girouard conveyed how Mills can only prepare you so much for the social experiences of college life. Zane Girouard voiced that “you learn how to talk to people you don’t know if you’re in activities or sports,” but as far as friendships go, most people have already known each other for many years and there’s no need to go out of your way to establish many new relationships. Rhys Girouard emphasized that it’s “hard to prepare for [the] social challenges of college” and advised students to participate in those “things you go to at Mills where you meet other people” like sports games and other afterschool activities.
Speaking to their academic preparedness for university, most of the alumni panel articulated the benefits of Mills’ English classes. AP Language and Composition and freshman year English 1 provided them with a lot of critical reading and writing skills. Bonavia asserted how these classes helped learn the process of “building arguments and laying out the structure of papers,” something that’s been “helpful for writing things, even for non-humanities classes.” Zane Girouard also touched on the skills from these classes being “something I continue to use and have continued to use throughout the last four years” of his time at the University of California, San Diego.
Rhys Girouard additionally spoke about the strong foundation a lot of his Mills STEM and math classes, in particular, provided him for his more advanced college courses as a materials science major at the University of California, Berkeley. Zane Girouard then communicated the general skill that was particularly important in developing strong foundations for college courses: “[learn] how to figure out the problem, not the exact steps you take for that specific problem”.
Henry concluded this question’s discussion by speaking to an often overlooked point about reaching out for help. She touched on how Mills “prepared [her] to communicate with professors,” and gave her the tools she needed to develop positive student-teacher relationships.
Bettucchi proceeded with another question; “What specific supports did you rely on to help you succeed at Mills?” The alumni mentioned how their close group of friends were always strong support systems during their high school years, but they also relied on teachers, parents, and administration. Several of the alumni also mentioned how beneficial the Mills counseling staff can be for students struggling with their mental health and how important it is to learn in high school that it’s okay to ask for help.
One of the last questions of the meeting was posed about what the alumni had learned from the extracurriculars and sports they participated in during their years at Mills. A few of them spoke about the leadership and motivational skills you learn during high school extracurriculars. “Communication and interacting with people was a big part of skills I learned and having to step up when people didn’t feel like it,” Henry mentioned. Rhys Girouard, a previous member of the Mills water polo team and boy scout, noted the teamwork skills he developed from these activities; “[I learned] how to work with someone else [and also] not trying to do everything” but stepping back and letting other people contribute as well.
Smaller breakout rooms of people were then made for students, alumni, teachers, and parents to ask any more questions that had not already been posed.
For more information about the PTO and future meetings, email president@millshspto.org.
