For the last four years here at C.H.S the public speaking II classes, led by Ms. Horne, have spearheaded change within our school system. In a yearly “Breakfast with Admin” the classes have voiced student opinions and concerns over policy here at the school, and respectfully led a conversation oriented towards change.

During Monday and Wednesdays first period classes of the week December 13th, the meeting with school admin, staff, and policy makers will be held. “It’s born out of a strong opinion that student input is the missing piece of the educational pie, well one of them at least” says Ms. Horne. In a recent conversation regarding the creation of these meetings Ms. Horne added how important administrator and student conversation was for success in a school atmosphere, and commented on student excitement over the idea. “They weren’t given anything, this is all them”, she adds. 

The topics for discussion this year were formed through various conversation Monday conferences, in which students talked about personal experiences within the school, and things they wished had more attention directed towards them. Sophomore Ella-Mae Price explained, “My public speaking class has split into groups, so we are all focusing on a few topics to discuss. My group has been focusing on issues with BKT and possible solutions. Other groups are discussing transparency with the administration, teachers, and students and also better preparing students for after highschool, like more organized/helpful college prep and information about CATEC.” The reason for the split groups comes from the fact that both public speaking students and Ms.Horne believe that ideas could be explained in a stronger manner when coming from numbers, and 20 people speaking about 20 different ideas would lay ineffective. 

One thing Ms. Horne added would be an extra barrier between solutions this year is the fact that Covid may be an easy factor to blame. While the virus has had a massive impact within the community, and deserves to be noted, school gaps can not be blamed on it. She also hopes the meeting will be screen-free, so that all attention can be focused on the students and the changes they are advocating for. 

Wednesday’s morning meeting focused primarily on mental health and further educational advocacy groups. “We need to know what self care looks like” added instructional coach Alexis Mason, which acted as a standpoint for further conversation into mental health needs in the modern sphere of education. The best thing to come out of the first meeting in a reactionary way was the hopeful creation of “mental health teams”. The guidance department proposed a group training effort paired with students and teachers to create a more understanding and prepared student body. 

Apart from mental health, administrators and the guidance department listened as students voiced for further college and career preparatory skills during their time here at CHS. Many said they had to learn a great deal of the information they carried into the process from outside sources, and felt unprepared for due dates. The guidance department took every word in, and also proposed a podcast solution in which students and counselors worked together to create a platform for information in a modern and accessible way. 

While Wednesday’s meeting had a triumphant beginning, Friday morning’s meeting also led to productive conversations. “There was a lot of good discussion, admin answered questions about money transparency and guidance, took notes on our suggestions for post grad planning as well as having guidance more accessible to students” added Ella-Mae. School-wide transparency needs were noted and acknowledged, and stronger transmission between admin and teacher was also faced. Conversation early on in the meeting circled around the fact that some teachers were not following the guidelines put in place for this school year, which surprised admin at first. Not everyone playing the same way was discussed, and built up frustration acted as a clear barrier between truth around the process. 

Overall, the breakfast with admin project of this 2021 school year aced another successful run. These conversations act in the critical function of the school body as a whole, and the conversations which arose from the process come with a hopeful new understanding. Within the next few weeks, or months, graceful change around the building sparked from these outstanding public speaking students.