Alumni panel

Organize a high school alumni panel presentation at your school.

Invite 4-6 current high school students (recommend juniors and seniors) who are alumni to come back to your school to participate in a 1-hour panel discussion during the school day about smartphones, social media, and technology.

All middle school students and their teachers should attend.

Find a parent volunteer to lead the panel discussion. Choose a theme like “A High School Perspective on Growing up with Technology” or “Managing High School Pressures and Maintaining Mental Health.”

Here is a sample list of questions for the panel.

Meet with high schoolers ahead of time to share the list of questions so panelists can prepare and rehearse their responses. This helps foster authentic sharing about personal stories and specific anecdotes while also protecting the identities of parties involved.

Consider recording the panel discussion and sharing the video with middle school parents afterwards.

In choosing the alumni, guidance counselors, teachers, and administrators at the high school can be good resources.

If high school students will already be visiting your school during Catholic Schools Week, this could be a convenient time to hold the panel.