Raw emotion, frustration and resolve filled the room as students, alumni and community members spoke out about years of double-session schooling and delayed campus reconstruction during a public education town hall involving families from Simon Sanchez High School and John F. Kennedy High School.
Speaker after speaker described disrupted schedules, shortened class periods and a lingering sense of displacement tied to long-standing construction delays. Many said the issue goes beyond logistics.
“This is not just about schedules or buildings. This is about the learning environment we need to thrive,” one youth leader said, stressing that students are “tired, but they are hopeful… frustrated, but they are resilient,” and warning leaders that “education is not an expense. It is an investment in the future of our island.”
Senior Ava Aguon criticized the absence of Guam Department of Education leadership. “It is so disappointing to see all these people here… and the rest of these board members cannot reciprocate,” she said. She added it “breaks my heart to see her lack of attendance,” referring to Superintendent Judith Won Pat.
Students described double sessions as more than a scheduling term. Treasurer Rica Marose Macaranas said, “Double session feels like living in between… somewhere in the middle, our sense of permanence disappears.” She added, “You can’t fit a full education into a shortened bell schedule without something being cut away.”
Recent graduate Cheyanna Movida said instability affected athletics and school life. “Students should not be carrying the weight of problems that are long overdue for resolution,” she said. “We should not have to keep adjusting to delays that feel endless.”
Student leader Hannah Torrente reflected on losing her campus experience. “A generation of sharks is graduating without knowing what it feels like to have a home,” she said. “We are done being the guest school.”
Freshman Aisha Torrente urged leaders to treat reconstruction as urgent. “We only get four years of high school and we have already spent roughly two years in double session,” she said. “Give us our campus. Give us our future that we have already waited for too long.”
At the close, an official apologized to families and students. “Double session is not a minor inconvenience. It carries real consequences,” the speaker said, acknowledging community frustration and adding, “Government leadership collectively must own the urgency this situation requires.”
Despite repeated setbacks, students said they will continue pressing for change — and for a permanent campus to call their own.