River City High School leadership students pose in their classroom on Oct. 15 with the props they’ve been working on for homecoming. Photo by Seth Henderson

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - At River City High School, floats and decorations created by the Student Leadership and Construction classes for homecoming came together despite midterms, days off and schedule delays for the Oct. 24 football game and rally. 

River City High’s student leadership advisor and activities director Melissa Gowdy said that she previously taught English for the past 15 years in the Washington Unified School District but transitioned into the high school’s leadership program and hasn’t looked back. 

The leadership classroom is a large creative space divided into sections for lounging, crafts, supply storage and innovation. In her experience, Gowdy said, she found that the teaching environment plays a large role in the learning experience for students. Shades cover the standard fluorescent lights, depicting a warm sky with white fluffy clouds and twinkling lights are hung around the room. 

“Times like homecoming, winter formal or winter ball, this whole place becomes the workspace,” Gowdy said, “but outside of that, we have all these areas that really allow kids to be creative, allow them to work and collaborate together. It also allows other students to come in when we're not in full work mode.” 

In the workspace, desks are not frequently used and they are stacked up against walls in the room. Gowdy said that students constantly rotate through the classroom throughout the day, with some showing up before school and others coming by during lunch. She said that 20 to 30 students could be in the room during lunch on any given day. 

“If you create or cultivate an environment that's warm and well welcoming, kids automatically just feel more comfortable,” Gowdy said.
”So that was one of the things I was trying to do, when I jumped into this job.”

Mariana Gutierrez, a 16-year old senior and Associated Student Body president, said that she works hard for her peers and all that work eventually pays off. Gutierrez said she wanted to be in a class such as student leadership to help others, growing with her mentors and peers. Gutierrez said upperclassmen have traditionally inspired lowerclassmen and working hard for her peers is paying it forward.

“We are here to help others grow,” Gutierrez said. “I know when I was a freshman, I was scared but seeing my peers and seeing how together they are, shows you, ‘OK, I could do that.’”

Gutierrez said that the student leadership class is building a community that is tightly knit and a familial-like bond, saying that the students are all brothers and sisters. 

Associated Student Body Secretary, Layla Beltran, a 16-year-old junior, said that she has been in student leadership since her freshman year and spoke highly of her peers, Gutierrez and her advisor. Beltran said that having more stability in the program grows the class and makes it a stable learning environment for students. 

Student leaders are seen as reliable problem solvers, Beltran said. She said one of her favorite parts of the class is the overall responsibility and ability to be a role model for others. Beltran said that she has improved her public speaking and communication skills, and that the class involves a great deal of teamwork. 

“I'm just a junior and seeing the seniors, seeing them grow up from when they were sophomores to now seniors, the responsibility and the things they've grown,” Beltran said, “I want to be like them my senior year and have people look up to me.”

Gowdy said that her goal at River City is to do as much as she can for students. Gowdy said that she would not be who she is today without opportunities to run the class, build confidence and a skill set to succeed from student council her freshman year to Associated Student Body president,. She gave a shout out to her high school teacher, Travis Hatcher, from Ponderosa High School for inspiring the confidence to seize those opportunities. 

As a University of California, Davis graduate, Gowdy said she was a summer advisor for incoming freshmen at the campus for a few years before moving to New Mexico to pursue her master’s degree before opening her own business.

While substituting for the leadership class last school year in November, Gowdy said she had time to figure out what the students needed to be successful and that she really enjoyed teaching the program, especially as a former Associated Student Body student herself.

With one of her two children now attending River City High School and the other soon following behind, Gowdy’s new roles as the leadership advisor and activities director allows her to connect and inspire students throughout the campus. 

“Seeing kids that you see in the classroom and then seeing them in this different environment, having such an incredible time, which is just so key to being a young adult and having that high school experience,” Gowdy said. “So I'm really grateful that I'm able to be part of it.” 

To be in accordance with the California State University and University of California, high school courses must meet specific A through G requirements, a qualification that the current leadership program at River City does not yet meet. Gowdy said that ‘we’re going to get this AG approved.” 

Homecoming week at River City High School started on Oct. 20, featuring a rally and football game on Oct. 24 before ending with a dance on Oct. 25. Leadership students are expected to arrive on campus at 6 a.m. Oct. 24 to set up for the rally, decorating the campus, gymnasium and other parts of campus. 

The River City Raiders will face the Vacaville High School Bulldogs at home on Oct. 24 with the junior varsity game set to start at 5:15 p.m. and the varsity game to start at 7:30 p.m. The Raiders will face the Bulldogs for the first time after a restructuring of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Sac-Joaquin Section (SJS).

To learn more about homecoming week, upcoming sports games or other information about River City High School, visit https://rivercity.wusd.k12.ca.us/#. River City High is located at 1 Raider Lane in West Sacramento. To see the calendar of campus events, visit https://rivercity.wusd.k12.ca.us/Calendar.