SF Student Journalists Gather at City Hall

On May 1, 2026, over 25 students from 11 San Francisco high schools—including Lick-Wilmerding High School—joined city leaders from the Office of Mayor Daniel Lurie in City Hall Room 201 for the first San Francisco High School Press Forum.

Students from 11 publications attended in groups of at least two, including The Lincoln Log of Lincoln High School, The Crusader of Archbishop Riordan High School and The Emerald of Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory.

Students were joined by panelists Chief Dean Crispen (Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department), Alicia John-Baptiste (Chief of Infrastructure, Climate, and Mobility) and Charles Lutvak (Press Secretary and Senior Communications Advisor) for a 75-minute journalism roundtable. During the discussion, each student publication was allotted one question for city representatives.

Panelists Chief Dean Crispen, Alicia John-Baptiste and Charles Lutvak during the press forum.
photo courtesy of Ella Hamilton

Students, including LWHS Paper Tiger reporters Marcos Kim ’26, Ruby Kilar ’26 and Adil Kanal ’28, asked questions relevant to their audiences and ongoing reporting projects.

Topics spanned a range of citywide issues, including civic engagement of youth in SF, affordability, citywide budget cuts, San Francisco Unified School District curriculum changes and transportation.

“It was encouraging to hear such thoughtful, grounded and complex questions,” Autumn Ragone, an event coordinator and Public Affairs Fellow through Mayor Lurie’s office, wrote in an email to attendees. “There was a clear sense that students are paying close attention to the issues shaping San Francisco and care deeply about them.”