Adrielle Kristine Dumandan

This year’s Student Government Day continued CVUSD’s annual event embracing leadership to senior Renaissance and Leadership students across the district. From school principals to city officials, this tradition offers a valuable experience to recognizing leadership in all career fields. Pictured (from left to right): Sophia Pearson (12), Clarisse Nikaido (12)

On Wednesday, February 21, Ayala hosted Student Government Day, where high schools in the Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) had their senior Leadership and Renaissance students become principals, district officials, or city officials for the day to learn valuable leadership skills. 

Student Government Day has been a tradition that the Chino Valley Unified School District has been participating in for decades to help students learn valuable leadership and communication skills. The host school rotates each year, and this year Ayala hosted the 44th annual Student Government Day. 

“It’s highly focused on leadership and having kids perform on their own and the [mentors] facilitate this,” Leadership and Renaissance advisor Ms. Lenee Ives said.  

The students were assigned different places to go and work at for the day whether it be as a principal at one of the CVUSD schools, a district official, or even as a city official, like assistant mayor, fire chief, or police chief.

“I was a principal at Litel so I got to go in and I talked to all the sixth graders about things like Canyon Hills,” Renaissance student Ella Jackson (12) said. “They got to ask any questions about me, Canyon Hills, Ayala, classes that I take, and all that stuff.”

A big part of this event that made the students enjoy it even more was the fact that some of them were able to get an extra hit of nostalgia and go back to their old elementary or junior high schools.  They were able to see the behind the scenes of how the teachers and staff made the students’ times so enjoyable. 

“I think for me, it was really cool being able to go back to a school that I personally went to and [I] really enjoyed seeing the adults in the staff and the people that made my experience so enjoyable,” Leadership student Kendall Baldrias (12) said. 

Whether the students stayed back at the school, or went out to work in the Chino Hills community, all of the Leadership and Renaissance students learned valuable lessons about leadership and time management. These lessons are important to bring back to the leadership class so the students can make Ayala better than ever before. As the 2024 Student Government Day came to an end, it was evident that it was a successful day for all students. 

“I think it’s valuable because you get to see different points of views for other schools like Chino Hills High [School], so we get to see the different differences between our high school and their high school,” Jackson said. “It just gives us another point of view on like leadership, and how we can help Ayala.”