Although Cal High gets recognized for being ranked in the top 500 US high schools, there’s always room for improvement for these student-packed halls. 

Seniors are counting the days to graduation, but as they look back on the four years they’ve roamed the campus, many wish to change an aspect of Cal for future generations.

Lunch, especially, is a common complaint among the seniors.

Closed campus was implemented at Cal when the class of 2017 became freshmen. Many seniors now are disappointed that they didn’t have the privilege to leave campus during lunch.

“Bring back open campus,” Joey Curley said. “It’s way too crowded during lunch.”

Since school is a closed campus, many seniors rely on the cafeteria for food. 

“I would change the food,” Seva Dzerushau said. “The school’s cafeteria is pretty pathetic.”

Lunch is an important part of a student’s social life, but when looking at a student’s academic and inclusive experience, it is up to the administration and leadership to fulfill the student body’s expectations. 

Administrators work hard to locate resources for students, provide academic advice for after high school endeavors, and ensure a safe environment for students to learn. 

Cal’s leadership class works along with admin, representing Cal’s large student body to voice the needs of students and provide events that promote student inclusion. But some seniors have grievances about Cal’s administration and leadership they hope will be addressed in the upcoming years.

“If I could change anything about Cal, I would change the way [admin] handles [race issues]. The way they handled the racial graffiti and racial slurs was not outstanding,” Darren Zelada said. “I don’t want admin to be a spokesperson for [people of color].” 

Senior Caity Bailey believes there needs to be changes, but not everything is bad.

“I feel like admin does the best they can,” Bailey said. “There are certain things that they handled wrong and should be changed, but they could be worse. Oh, but please add more parking on campus!”

When talking about student body leadership,  Bailey suggested more student inclusion. In fact, many seniors feel that leadership representation at Cal should be changed.

“I feel we’re under an oligarchy right now,” Bailey continued. “Leadership needs to do more polls on what we want for Cal. It should be a direct democracy.”

Leadership is meant to represent Cal’s student body. 

Students can vote for ASB and class officers, but the rest of the leadership class is selected through application and review from leadership teacher Erin McFerrin. These students are responsible for creating events that students want and organizing dances, such as ball for seniors.

“Leadership represents the popular groups of Cal, for lack of a better word,” Danielle Anderson said. “For people that are in smaller groups, they aren’t represented that well.”

In terms of representation, there is no doubt that teachers of color are a minority at Cal.

“If we are talking about the school as a whole, I would dramatically increase the number of black teachers and other groups of color as part of faculty,” Alanah Winston said. 

One grievance, at least, will be addressed next year by the school. 

“The water fountains need to be changed,” Haree Akkala said. “They’re salty.”

Principal Sarah Cranford and senior Ellen Lyons are collaborating to change the water system on campus next year, installing new and improved water machines.

When asked about future changes, some seniors lamented that they would try to promote a less stressful culture at Cal.

“Right now, a lot of students [are judged] based on [the amount of] AP classes they take and grades,” Winslow said. 

Senior Megan Weinshelbaum, who said she faced many pressures from Cal’s competitive environment, agreed.

“I want the student body to be less judgmental based on where you’re going to college,” Weinshelbaum said. “Cal is a competitive high school, which puts a lot of stress for students to aim for Ivy Leagues, when a state school is just as fine.”