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Inaugural student advisory council empaneled

By Wesley LeBlanc Staff Writer
Posted 9/26/18

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Inaugural student advisory council empaneled


Posted

FLEMING ISLAND – After a rigorous application process that narrowed some 65 student applications down to 16, the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council met for the first time Monday night and already, these students are brainstorming ways to improve the Clay County School District.

Earlier this year in May, Superintendent Addison Davis opened up applications for students who wished to be on this council whose purpose was to give Davis and the school district a new perspective on Clay County’s education system. After combing through over 65 applications, and interviewing another 35 in person, the council has met for the first time on Sept. 24. Before jumping into an icebreaker for the students, Davis explained to the students what he hopes comes of this inaugural council.

“The real responsibility of this is really for us [administration] to have a greater access to communication and interaction with students,” Davis said. “Let me be honest: I’m leveraging your knowledge, your skillset and your ears to become the best school district in the State of Florida.

If the first meeting is any indication, the Student Advisory Council will serve to provide a perspective that Davis, the administration and the school board don’t usually to get to hear from students. This perspective, or lack thereof, is something Davis identified, and as a result, created the council to fill that gap.

“It’s very easy for me as Superintendent to sit on the sidelines and I can work with adults and I can work with parents and I can work with school-based leaders, teachers, district-based leaders to truly figure out what’s working, what’s not and what we can do differently but what’s more important is being actively engaged with learners, what your experience is...and your worth and your knowledge is priceless,” Davis said.

After a quick icebreaker, students explained to Davis what they hope to see come of this council, and for the most part, their vision aligned perfectly with his. Both parties want to see the Clay County School District become the best it can be.

“We are the voice of students in Clay County and I think we have to come together to represent those who might not be heard,” said Michaela LaSauce, a 10th grader at Middleburg High. “We have to work together to make the district better for them and for everyone. We can make the school district the best it’s ever been.”

More specifically, the council wants to tackle issues such as bullying, case-specific discipline, miscommunication. According to Davis, the council has a real opportunity to affect change across the county, both from an in-school viewpoint and a school board policy stance. Its members come from different backgrounds and range from seventh through 12th grades.

“Once we get to a point where we start to prioritize what this council really wants to be their major areas of focus, what we’ll do is start unpeeling that onion and figure out if it’s change we can grasp at the school-level or if it needs to go through the school board,” Davis said.

“My aspiration, as we get this cohort moving in the direction to better the experience for all of the kids, is that we get to a point where we’ll have quarterly updates for the school board. If it gets to the point where we have to push and change the way we think with district policy, or initiatives, or our ways of work, then I will immediately engage all leaders and the school board to talk about how we can involve the practice with the lens of this council to really make a change and act in the best interest of our learners,” Davis said.

At the next meeting, willing seniors and juniors of the council will have to present their case for why they should serve as the council chair and vice-chair respectively. These two students will be the ones responsible for talking directly with school district leaders and school board members.

Students were forced out of their comfort zones and held open discussions on such topics as teacher-student relationships, school culture-climate, communication-messaging, district policy and student engagement and motivation. They moved around the room and covered six different posters with sticky notes filled with ideas and issues that will be discussed further as a means of finding solutions.

“I see a lack of motivation in other students and I think that together we can come up with ways to annihilate that,” said Kaley Colter, an eighth grader at Lake Asbury Junior High. “Different people need different kinds of engagement and motivation.”

According to Davis, this first meeting served as a way to discover what areas of interest in Clay County education the council could tackle on an individual basis.

By the end of the hour-long meeting, one thing was clear: despite their youth, these students were wise in their thinking. Not only do they want to help Clay County rise to the top, but there was a feeling of duty in the room. It seemed as if each student had taken up a call of duty to service not only themselves, but the thousands of students they represent.

According to Davis, these students might be the final push the Clay County School District needs to overcome St. Johns as the No. 1 school district in Florida. Until the October meeting, the council will continue the meeting’s discussion in a shared Google doc where they’ll not only share ideas and concepts with each other and Davis, but plan for their next meeting agenda.