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District superintendent engages students

Student feedback sought and appreciated by school district

The success of administration asking for student input was on the agenda at the April 24 School District 27 board meeting in 100 Mile House, as presented in a report by superintendent Diane Wright.

"[At] our Student Voice Focus Group, we had 125 students with district staff and the principal or vice-principal from the secondary schools, two in Williams Lake, two in 100 Mile House, plus Alexis Creek and Horsefly [schools] come together."

Facilitator Dave MacLeod steered the group in discussions, she said, and he will make a presentation at a later date  to provide the board with a more detailed overview of what was learned.

"The students gave us some incredible information and they were so appreciative of the fact we brought them all together and really cared about what they had to say."

From each of these schools, a focus group of 30 students met with MacLeod to complete a questionnaire with THOUGHTstream online engagement software, Wright notes.

"They absolutely loved [THOUGHTstream]. They were so good with the technology."

When these focus groups came together again at the combined meeting, they used the software once again, she says, and did some converging and prioritizing of the collected thoughts.

"A couple of big themes that were consistent with all the students that we heard from were that the learning needed to be more relevant and more hands-on, and they wanted the opportunity to explore a variety of subjects and courses. Their curiosity and passion to be successful in the world was just wonderful."

She then invited assistant superintendent Harj Manhas to comment on his impressions from the meeting.

Manhas said he was "totally impressed" with how seriously the students responded and how "well informed" they were.

After the focus group meeting, he passed on this sentiment to the other staff in attendance, Manhas explained, who agreed they were also "quite impressed" with the students.

Wright is "just a little proud, as is Harj" (Manhas), she said, adding the students indicated they would like to continue on as a focus group after graduation.

"The students were really pleased that we now have their e-mail addresses and through THOUGHTstream, would really love to have the board, the district and their schools pose other questions."

Hearing about the experiences these secondary students undergo over the next few years will be a way to measure results from the current school system for potential changes, she explained.

Wright encouraged the trustees to review the student input collected for their own benefit.

Student Voice is a "common conversation" currently happening across the province, she said, adding engaging students is key to learning.