It’s 7:50 am as you walk into your first period class. The room is full of chatter about the highlights from last night’s football game and The Campanile’s recently published, hilarious (and controversial) April Fool’s edition. Your teacher’s call for attention turns the class towards her, eager and engaged, as she begins writing a warm-up problem on a blackboard that stretches across all four walls of the room. The year is 1985. You wonder: what might Palo Alto High School be like four decades from now?
Veteran teacher Kathy Bowers, who has been at Paly for 37 years, said one of the school’s biggest changes is the student body size. Bowers said when she first began teaching, Paly’s 1000 students attended seven, 50-minute periods every day and held rallies in an amphitheater that has since then been replaced by the science building.
“It was a very different vibe because of the lack of technology and the small school size,” Bowers said. “I felt like I knew everybody on campus. You certainly wouldn’t pile four kids in your car and take them to Home Depot (now), but we did back then.”
But Bowers also said many practices and traditions have stuck, like the lunchtime migration to Town & Country, student-staff basketball games and Spirit Week.
“Spirit Week, the floats and the dance, even though it’s evolved, has always been a big (event), and something I think the kids really enjoy,” Bowers said.
Paly has evolved beyond just culture and student life, though. Early Childhood Development teacher Hilary McDaniel said the classic education system was built to train people with basic skills, but requirements have extended beyond that.
“You need to be able to do math, but we have calculators for simple stuff,” McDaniel said. “You need to be able to read, but what’s more important is critical thinking.”
The modernization of education through technology has also negatively impacted students and teenagers, Bowers said.
“At lunch, it used to be that everybody was busy talking, throwing Frisbees, kicking soccer balls, singing in the corner, playing music,” Bowers said. “I think the world has changed.”
In the classroom, desks remain one of the only relics of the past. Bowers said although blackboards have been replaced by whiteboards and TVs, the real difference is students used to walk into classrooms engaged and ready to learn.
“They took notes, (and) were more engaged because there were no distractions,” Bowers said. “They were eager to participate in the conversation. They talked to each other. They got your jokes. They thought you were funny. Everybody was with you.”
And technology’s impacts extend beyond the classroom. McDaniel said the ubiquity of devices is negatively impacting childhood development as well as students’ academic success.
“We’re robbing children of important developmental skills because we’re just putting them in front of screens,” McDaniel said. “Even just having your cell phone on your desk in class takes test performance down at least 20%.”
For some students, the competitive nature of modern high school has turned what should be four years of growth and self-discovery into a stressful, anxiety-inducing experience. Sophomore Ishaan Juyaal said Paly’s intense academic culture proliferates social pressures from peers, family and students themselves, which can make finding a solution to unhealthy stress difficult.
“I’m currently not having a great work-life balance due to a ton of commitments,” Juyaal said. “It’s a combination of wanting to be the best and also because I do enjoy some of the activities. Teachers continuously tell students not to overload themselves, but we still do it. The fact is, getting into a ‘good’ college isn’t life or death.”
Still, Juyaal said he hopes that the rising awareness around mental health and stress will lead to change.
“Over time, I (hope) we progress to just doing what you want to do, and if that still means you’re juggling a bunch of commitments, go for it,” Juyaal said.
Other changes at Paly have been positive, though, Bowers said. One example is PRIME, which Bowers said replaced the pre-internet-era “Homework Hotline,” a program where students would call teachers for help through landline phones.
“PRIME is one of my favorite things because you’re just working with the kids one-on-one,” Bowers said. “It’s not a rat race. It’s not micromanaging. They want to be there. They’re getting help.”
Looking to the future, McDaniel said technology — and especially AI — will be vital to the future of education, so students should be taught how to use these tools in a positive, responsible manner.
“I think AI is a tool students should be using every day,” McDaniel said. “You absolutely cannot use it to do your assignments for you. That will be to your detriment. Teachers need to be talking to (students) about how to use these tools in ways that will actually benefit (them).”
For some, the future of Paly and high school in general hinges on what is done to counteract technology’s impacts on teens. Bowers said if she could change one thing about high school, it would be to reimagine technology.
“I do think there is a place for technology, (but) we need to reimagine how it looks,” Bowers said. “Unfortunately, that’s not in anybody’s control, because we can’t control the internet. We can’t control what happens when you walk out of here.”
For others, improving the high school experience starts with a shift in perspective on what it even means to be a high schooler. McDaniel said she hopes her future students learn to experience the joy of learning more.
“It’s really important not to lose sight of what’s really important and not be so focused on (grades or college),” McDaniel said. “When you’re always putting off the happiness or the satisfaction, you never get there.”
