Reverberating the essence of being an effective superior, Woodrow Wilson spoke, “The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people,” a statement that must be maintained and must be held to a high degree of importance in our academic atmosphere at Mentor High School. To maintain this value, the administration decided to adopt an approach that aims to magnify the focus on student opinion and feedback.
To obtain access to the group, a form application is required, asking simple questions for background information followed by inquiring why a student is interested in joining the coalition, and what the individual intends to highlight in the coming meetings. These applications are reviewed by Mentor High School administration before an acceptance letter is delivered. A selective group, consisting of an average of eighteen members per grade level, most accurately outlines the demographic of the Principal Advisory Board. Assembling quarterly, accepted representatives participate in separate meetings respective to grade level. This format allows for concentrated and relevant conversations to be discussed for each grade and allows for the greatest diversity to be present in the feedback provided.
Principal Jason Crowe, Mentor High School Principal, conducts the meetings, guiding the group through a predetermined list of items perceived to be most pertinent by the administration. Typically meeting in a large Paradigm conference room during the school day, each member is required to be absent at least once a quarter during the two-period mod time that the Principal Advisory Board convenes, emphasizing the importance of the students to the group.
A printed agenda document is laid out prior to the meeting by Principal Jason Crowe in front of each member’s seat, with topics ranging from upcoming events to discussions on past Mentor High School reforms, to discovering possible ideas to implement long in the future. In years prior, the board discussed remote days, Zoom meeting etiquette, and Senior Activity Day were also detailed.
The first meeting of the year took place on September 17th. The group began discussions with each individual introducing themselves to one another, with Principal Jason Crowe outlining how each meeting would be run. The items on the meeting’s agenda ranged from a review of the start of the school year, especially from the freshman perspective, feedback on the upcoming Homecoming season, and conversations about the switch to Early Dismissal. Often, however, discussions tend to stray away from these issues.
In this quarter’s meeting, a brief discussion was held over the beginning of the school year, with students agreeing with each other that everything was going smoothly. Conversations over Homecoming were straightforward, with Principal Jason Crowe describing the different events throughout the Homecoming season, including the parade, football game, and dance. Students did not provide much input on the issue. Instead, the group was focused on the recent increase in stringent censoring of Securly they recently experienced.
The issue was dismissed to the IT department to be solved and was quickly fixed. The board proclaimed their issues regarding the recent switch from Chromebooks to MacBooks, a problem commonly discussed by students, but it seems certain from the response of Principal Jason Crowe that students will continue to use Chromebooks throughout their career at the high school, and that bringing a personal device from home is not permitted due to security issues.
In a more positive light, students brainstormed quality of life improvements for the future, which included the idea of allowing seniors to paint their parking spots which would act as an additional fun activity to start the school year for seniors like their Activity Day and Senior Sunrise. Principal Jason Crowe seemed to possess a positive sentiment on the topic but maintained that such changes would not occur for several years. The meeting concluded with this and other miscellaneous conversation, marking the end of an introductory, yet productive Principal Advisory Board session.
All students should consider applying to join the group, especially if they have concerns or ideas related to improving the environment at Mentor High School. The feedback members of the Principal Advisory Board possess is of tremendous importance to the future success of Mentor High School. Applications have already past this year, but interested students should be diligent in searching the following school year, around early September, for a link to the online application form in Schoology.
