Earlier this evening, I found myself at one of my all-time favorite activities as a BOE Director.
I serve as the liaison to the Student Advisory Group (SAG), one of the Board's official committees. The SAG is made up of juniors and seniors from each high school, and can be a two-year commitment for those who start as juniors. Once a month, these high-performing students get together and talk about issues of concern to them and to our District. The Board is extremely fortunate to have these young people on hand to advise us from a true student perspective.
The meeting took place in an elementary school library, which provided comic relief as the near-grown students tried to fold themselves into primary school chairs. It worked, but not without much merriment as they noted the inability of some of their knees to fit under the tables. The agenda included a presentation from Denny Ingram, principal of the new Douglas County Outdoor Education Center. High school kids can satisfy part of their community service requirements working with younger kids at camp at the center. The students were not only told about this opportunity, but were given the chance to provide feedback on how it could best meet their service hour needs. It is great that it is not a novel concept in our District to ask our students what they think--and then to pay attention to the answer and figure out how to integrate it into offerings for them.
We also discussed heavy topics such as the budget and their perceptions of their new class schedules. The feedback ran the gamut. Our society likes to lament about how kids these days just don't pay attention. Not so, if SAG students are any indication. They have strong opinions about taxes for schools, a realistic view on the vagaries of fellow students having free periods, and keen insight into what is effective for them in the classroom--and what is not.
I was able to spend 15-odd minutes talking with them, gaining feedback, and listening to their ideas and concerns. It suits me just fine to spend more time listening than talking. They spend enough of their time listening to adults guide them through their young lives. Is it perhaps a novel concept for them to have an adult ask them to guide us toward being effective at helping them? I hope it becomes less of a novelty and more of something with which they feel confident, which is where I think we can all make true gains.
