Student voices will be heard during Fox C-6 School District Board of Education meetings for the rest of this school year.
Seckman High School seniors Kyle Lane and Ayda Redmond and junior Chiara Figueria-Ortiz and Fox High School senior Lindsey Greene and junior Reese Mullins were sworn in as student ambassadors to the board on Nov. 15. They will act as liaisons between the school board, staff and student body.
“We are so excited to have student voices contributing regularly to our Board of Education meetings,” Superintendent Paul Fregeau said. “We hope that these student ambassadors will serve as a bridge between the Board of Education and our most valuable resource – our students.”
Board members agreed in June to create the student ambassador program.
The ambassadors are required to attend at least one board meeting each month. They also are tasked with meeting with a variety of students and student groups so they can provide a broad view of students’ interests, concerns and needs.
The ambassadors will discuss what is happening in schools and bring up issues that are important to the student body at the meetings they attend.
Board members may also ask the ambassadors to provide opinions about items discussed during meetings.
The ambassadors will not vote, and they do not attend closed session meetings.
“I thought I would like to get students involved and get their voices heard in the district,” said student ambassador
Mullins, 17, of Arnold, whose father is Arnold Ward 3 Councilman Rodney Mullins. “I think it is important because we are there every day along with the teachers and staff. I think it is important to have a voice coming straight from the students and not just parents or staff.”
Lane, 17, of Arnold, another one of the ambassadors, said he wants to tell the board about what students want from their schools.
“I hear all the time students talking about things they want to see changed or done differently,” he said. “I want to be part of helping get some things done.”
Mullins and Figueria-Ortiz will be asked if they want to continue as ambassadors next school year. If they do, then two other ambassadors will be selected from each of the high schools to join them.
Initially, there were only going to be four ambassadors – two from each high school – but Fregeau said the district expanded that to five for this school year.
Lane, Redmond, Figueria-Ortiz, Greene and Mullins were the only students to apply for the positions, Fregeau said.
“The board was so impressed with all of the applicants that they decided to accept them all into the ambassador program,” he said.
The students filled out an application near the start of the school year, and they were then interviewed by Fregeau, school board president Krystal Hargis and board member Michelle Chamberlain.
“Hearing what it is like to be a student in our classrooms, and relationships with kids is what it is all about,” Chamberlain said. “I’m super excited about this.”
Figueria-Ortiz, 17, of Imperial said she believes she can provide a wide array of viewpoints because her siblings attend middle and elementary school in the district. One is Danika Figueria-Ortiz, 14, an eighth grader at Seckman Middle, and the other is Erik Figueria-Ortiz, 10, a fifth grader at Seckman Elementary.
“I have friends working in (Character Kids Club) at elementary schools, and they can tell me about things in those schools too,” she said.
Greene, 18, of Arnold said she was interested in the ambassador role because she plans to study political science in college. She also said she believes bringing information back to schools will be just as important as contributions ambassadors make during board meetings.
“I think being exposed to this type of environment and representing the student body will be a nice experience,” said Greene, whose mother is Robin Greene, Fox’s director of professional development. “I know I want to bring back to school the information we learn here. I feel a lot of times at school people don’t know what happens at board meetings.”
Redmond, 17, of Arnold said she already has one issue she would like to discuss with the board on behalf of the students.
“I want to speak up about how students feel about the 70-20-10 rule,” she said, referring to the grading system that has test results accounting for 70 precent of a student’s final grade, results from homework and quizzes accounting for 20 percent of a final grade and performance on a final exam accounting for 10 percent of a final grade.
“I think the grading system could be improved if the percentages were changed. I would have to hear why (the system) is the way it is now before saying how it could be better.”
Fregeau said the district wanted to have the ambassadors in place at the start of this school year, but the application process took longer than expected.
“In future years, we anticipate having the application process in the spring so that student ambassadors can begin their term in August,” he said.