by Jack Maher, multimedia journalist, and Devan Crean, communications specialist, Jeffco Public Schools
Jeffco high school students take part in a spirited breakout session during a Student Voice forum at Red Rocks Community College.
The first Jeffco Student Voice of the 2016-17 school year unfolded at Red Rocks Community College, and included a student town hall with Jeffco’s Superintendent Dan McMinimee who invited Jefferson County Board of Education President Ron Mitchell to take part, as well.
Jeffco Student Voice is a district-wide initiative that empowers high school students from diverse backgrounds with leadership, cultural awareness, teamwork, and advocacy skills.
“I like how we all come together as a community and talk about what problems we have in our schools,” said Alameda International Jr./Sr. High School student Mica Rodriguez.
The goal is to provide is a forum for students to collaborate with other schools, the district, and community leaders to make schools a better place to both learn and work.
“We talk about diversity and leadership, and how there’s more to us than what people see,” explained Arvada High School student Cindy Thao. “There are different layers to us and different perspectives.”
Students covered a wide range of complex topics during the town hall portion of their meeting. Questions included how the district was addressing the issue of transgender bathrooms, the ongoing problem of drug abuse among some students, and whether Jeffco should try to equal the playing field in schools with socio-economic challenges.
Past Student Voice forums have led to some real changes. For example, one student raised concerns to the Superintendent about the quality of the food in her school cafeteria last year.
“[She] thanked Mr. McMinimee today for taking those concerns to heart and making sure that those needed changes happened,” said Arianne Rivera, Jeffco Student Engagement Diversity Specialist, who helps facilitate the Jeffco Student Voice meetings.
Students also had asked about increasing mental health supports for students, and the district responded.
“Dollars were put to that. We actually got additional staff from it, training, and a focus in our middle schools so that we’re really being more proactive and really preventative rather than reactive,” said Rivera.
Participating students say it’s exciting for them to take ideas they hear during Student Voice meetings back to their schools to create positive changes.
“I just want to see how other schools are doing with their diversity and learning, how they’re inspiring people,” said Lakewood High School student Sunmi Kim.
Kim’s Lakewood classmate Rebecca Williams agreed.
“I just want to get friends from other schools and then I also want to find different ways to bring people together, and get ideas other than just from ourselves,” she said.
Student Voice discussions and decisions can have a long-lasting impact.
“This has helped me substantially. We changed so much stuff in our school and it makes our school a better place, which increases our test rates and school spirit,” said Alameda student Jay Spires.
Student Voice empowers students to be more active in their schools and in the district, but it also can inspire students to take what they learn with them beyond high school and well into a successful future.
“It’s a pretty powerful thing,” said Rivera.
Watch the JPS-TV version of this story here.