How much of a say do students have in shaping our culture and how our campus is run?
Although it has existed for years, the Principal’s Student Council has likely flown under the radar of many students. Now, with Principal Cina Abedzadeh joining the Stallion family, it has been reinvigorated. It gives students the opportunity to provide their own input, working in tandem with our staff to influence and impact our school’s culture directly.
“It was here before I got here, but when I heard about it through Madame Keeler, it was something I definitely wanted to continue. I saw a lot of promise in the program because it actually gives the students the voice to make change on campus,” said Principal Abedzadeh.
As it is still quite early in the school year, the Council has not had the chance to have many meetings yet. Despite this, they have already narrowed down their vision to three main goals, short-term and long-term, thanks to a survey that was sent out to the entire student body.
“The first thing we realized is that students want to see a greater degree of diversity incorporated amongst our student programs. When you’re trying to do that, you’re looking through the lens of something that’s a systemic change, something that can’t happen overnight. It’s gonna have to be a grassroots movement among our student population,” said Principal Abedzadeh.
Focusing more on the short-term, the second point that students seemed to care about, and the point that the Council members seemed to agree on most unanimously, was having a suggestion box of sorts, allowing even those outside of the Council to contribute by providing their opinions on campus-wide issues.
“I envision a lot of great things for this school, but the purpose of this is to give students their own voice in what they want to see changed. I’m never going to tell the students what to do, I just want to be a resource to help them with what they want to focus on,” said Principal Abedzadeh.
Finally, Principal Abedzadeh noted that members of the Council, through looking at the survey responses, have recognized the importance of environmental changes on our campus to benefit our students, such as installing more umbrellas on the lunch tables outside for students to beat the heat.
“I’m a new principal here, so I want to make myself as visible as possible to the students. I want them to know that I’m an ally for them, that I’m in support of them, and again, I can’t emphasize this enough, that I want to be a resource for them. My hope is that through the years, this connection and trust continues to grow with students and that they continue to come back to the Council again for years to come,” Principal Abedzadeh said.
The Principal’s Student Council meets on the second Tuesday of each month during lunch in room D12. An email will be sent out to students prior to the next meeting, which is on November 12th and is open for everyone to attend.
