Youth Conference

On April 2, 2025, the PUSD Student Think Tank (STT) and Student Assembly Council (SAC) hosted our first annual youth conference, Breaking the Line: Creating a Bridge Between Students and Teachers, at the Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles. The goal of the conference was to create a platform for students to share their concerns and to invite teachers to participate in the conversations. 

The STT and SAC spent the summer of 2024 and a large part of  the 2024-25 school year preparing for the conference and collaborating with individuals throughout the district. Though the date had to pushed back by a month because of the Eaton fire, the team organized the panel once campuses reopened. The conference was the first of its type held in Pasadena and hosted by students!

The conference featured multiple panels that teachers and students in attendance could choose from. Some panel topics included “Student Voices in Policy” and “Building Student-Led Support Systems for All.” Students from each high school volunteered in advance to serve as panelists and share their perspectives.

Additionally, keynote speaker Dr. Tyrone Howard (UCLA Center for Transformation of Schools) delivered a powerful speech to all attendees during lunch. The conference was attended by more than sixty students and thirty teachers as well as a few district administrators. As we plan our 2026 conference, we hope to increase the number of attendees.