To accommodate the growing number of technology classes that SPA has seen in recent years, Upper School Council and a group of students have been working to create a Student Technology Committee (STC) that will allow students to express and expand on their science abilities. Junior Gabriel Konar-Steenberg has taken charge of promoting STC. He introduced the purpose of organization to the school during Friday assembly after writing an overview of the committee and posting it on the Opinion Board.

The piece posted on the board reads:

USC has been working with a group of students to create a Student Technology Committee for next year. The goal is to have a group of student technology experts to serve as a liaison between the student body and the Technology Department by facilitating two-way communication, providing student input on technological decisions, and promoting technological education among the student body. This committee could work more efficiently on these issues than USC because that would be its only responsibility (whereas USC has many others) and because the members would already have the expertise necessary to understand these somewhat technical issues. Just as there are specialized student groups for activities, student safety, discipline, mental health, and each of the grades, technology is such an integral part of Upper School life that it should have its own student liaison group. We’d love your input!

To give students an understanding of STC, Konar-Steenberg draws comparisons to USC.

“STC would be similar to USC, but specifically for technology. A dedicated committee like this composed of tech experts from the student body could work more efficiently, because USC has many other priorities to take care of,” Konar-Steenberg said.

Konar-Steenberg believes the group would be able to work more efficiently because of the group of students involved.

“[STC] would be composed of one elected student representative from each grade, and each candidate must interview with the faculty advisor and be judged technologically qualified,” Konar-Steenberg said.

By conducting an interview for each interested member, STC makes sure the group consists only of members that are qualified, and passionate for the club. Eventually, STC would become a way for faculty members to hear what students want.

“We want to serve as a liaison between the Student Body and the Technology Department by providing student input on technology decisions,” Konar-Steenberg said.

Recently, a group of students interested in STC worked with the Technology Department to unblock Chrome’s developer tools. STC hopes to continue making technological strides in the future.

“[As a group], we want to have writing tutorials about software to help students get a better understanding how they can use Google Drive or other apps,” Konar-Steenberg said.

Even before becoming an official organization, STC plans on helping other clubs and students.

“We want to help clubs and other groups get email addresses that end in @spa.edu, and we also hope to write an app that can keep track of students’ block schedules,” Konar-Steenberg said.

STC will release more information in the future for students that are interested in taking part of the organization in the future.