They could be referred to as the eyes and ears of the man in charge – his teenage consultants. The Superintendent of Lancaster City Schools, Nathan Hale, selected representatives from each of the high school graduating classes to be members of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board. The group includes students who are involved in a wide variety of academic courses, athletics, career technical programs, and student groups and clubs such as music and drama.
“The students apply at the beginning of the school year. I selected two from each grade level based on their responses to a few questions. The students who were selected last year all chose to stay members again this year. This year I chose three freshmen due to the large number of responses,” Lancaster City Schools Superintendent Nathan Hale said.
One of the main purposes of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board is for students to share their ideas and opinions and to give students a voice in communicating issues, concerns, and solutions that affect the student population.
LHS junior Jade Piko said the group’s goal is to promote positive connections between students and staff.
“Some of the group’s goals are to improve communication between students and the administration and address student concerns. For example, one of our concerns has been about how students often feel disconnected from events or general achievements of their peers, as students often do not have a reliable way to know what events are going on,” she said.
LHS sophomore Charlee Mckisson said that she likes to be involved at school and that the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board would help her do that.
“It sounded sophisticated. I knew that, because it was involved with Mr. Hale, I would have more opportunities and connections around Lancaster. The purpose of the group is to get students’ perspectives on the district. We provide insight and opinions on ways to improve the school and students’ lives,” said Mckisson.
LHS freshmen Maggie Loudon and Christian Foraker said that the group is about improvement and leadership.
“The purpose of this group is to make the school better and the students understand what it is to be a leader for your peers. I wanted to share my thoughts and ideas,” said Loudon.
“The group’s goals are to help make the school a better environment for students and teachers. We talk about what is going on and discuss what needs to be done to fix problems,” said Foraker.
LHS freshman Ava Hardy said that the S.S.A.B. makes her feel included and involved in the high school.
“I wanted to be selected for the superintendent advisory group because I can be a part of helping the school make everyone feel safe and included in this school. We come together and talk about what we think the school needs to work on or what we could do to make the school better. Working with the upperclassmen, I am able to see what other kids are experiencing,” said Hardy.
Hale said that the student advisory board provides a positive way for him to engage with high school students.
“The function of the group is to provide a direct voice from the student population to my office. I also have an opportunity to ask ongoing questions about the district and the high school to get feedback and input from them and just spend more time talking with our students. I try to stay engaged as much as possible, and this is another opportunity,” said Hale.
The advisory group has discussed several school issues with Hale this year.
“One of the priorities at LHS has been helping with restroom coverage. LHS has added staff coverage throughout the year. We added a shared Google sheet for students to communicate with the advisory board. Students can share items via the sheet, and then each member of the group can add them to our agendas. This gives the whole building a direct connection,” said Hale.
Another goal for the future is to create a routine morning announcement to communicate important information to the entire student body.
“Currently, one of our goals is to start morning announcements. We collectively agree that morning announcements would make our students more connected and aware of events and accomplishments. For example, Ryan Durban is a senior in criminal science. As a sophomore, I don’t hear a lot about the CT accomplishments, so when I work in this group with him, he gives us updates about their program. This ties in with the morning announcement idea, making students more aware of their peers’ accomplishments,” said Mckisson.
The Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board has a collective mission for the future.
“We are 100% honest with each other, Mr. Hale, and other adults that want to talk to us because we genuinely do have the students’ best interest,” said Mckisson.
