Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board unique in the region - 11/06/07

Members of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board ascend the stairs on the way to their monthly meeting with BCPS Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston.

On the second floor of the school system’s administration building, a light-filled corner conference room is occupied on a daily basis by administrators and community leaders meeting with Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston to discuss a wide range of educational issues. But once a month, this same room is filled with students invited by Superintendent Hairston to share their views on these same educational issues.

The six high school seniors who participate in these meetings are members of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board, a group he has appointed each year since 2004. According to The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore County Public Schools is the only school system in the region in which the superintendent meets this frequently with student advisors.

Superintendent Hairston said that he finds the group’s perspective invaluable to his work.  “The time I spend with our students helps me maintain clarity of mission,” he said. “I work from a stronger position when I hear directly from them. They give me another critical lens on our schools.”

To stay closely connected to students, in addition to meeting with the Student Advisory Board, Superintendent Hairston visits schools and participates in various student events each month, including activities with the Baltimore County Student Councils.

It is the Student Advisory Board, however, that gives Superintendent Hairston the unique opportunity to work closely with a small number of students for a full school year. “Each year, the members of this group impress me with their intelligence and with their insights into the needs, concerns, and interests of today’s students,” said Superintendent Hairston. “These young people are all exceptional scholars and leaders, wise beyond their years. They reflect the overall quality of our students.”

This winter, Superintendent Hairston plans to host a reunion of past Student Advisory Board members, all of whom are now in college.

Student Advisory Board members share with Superintendent Hairston the students’ perspective on various education issues.

Stacy S. and Jennifer O., who graduated in May, were members of the Student Advisory Board during the 2006-2007 school year. Stacy, a Pikesville High School graduate, is now a freshman at Georgetown University. Jennifer, a graduate of the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, is now a freshman at Princeton University.

According to Stacy, “The Student Advisory Board is important because of what Dr. Hairston makes of it. The Board is his creation, and he uses it to gain a different perspective of Baltimore County [Public Schools]. We told him what was really going on in our schools, and he responded to the issues we brought up. Without the Board, he may not have known about some of the issues that we presented him with.”

“The group is important,” Jennifer noted, “because the students' viewpoint is much different from that of administrators. Combining the two viewpoints, as in the Advisory Board, creates a well-rounded picture of the present state of schools, which can then be analyzed and improved upon. Additionally, the combination of thought from both students and administrators allows for new ideas to be explored and – most importantly –acted upon.”

Both young women felt that serving on the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board also had a personal impact on them.

The Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board for 2007-2008 Logan A., Pikesville High School Golda B., Overlea High School Jillian C., Franklin High School (Student Government Association President at Franklin) Audrey D., George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology (Student Member on the Baltimore County Board of Education) Anna-Lisa M., Catonsville High School Rebecca P., Perry Hall High (Baltimore County Student Councils President) Stephanie S., New Town High School

“I was actually fascinated with what I learned at those Board meetings,” Stacy added. “I learned how money for the county is dispersed and how other high schools differed from Pikesville. I learned that schools such as Kenwood offer the IB [International Baccalaureate] program, [which] I never had the opportunity to participate in, and I found that each school conducts their PSAT testing day slightly differently. It was interesting when I realized that each school really is different even though they all report back to the same office at the end of the day.”

For Jennifer, the biggest impression was learning how to “continually strive for improvement.” She said, “I could list everything I learned specifically about BCPS, but the general exploration of new advancements has made a lasting impression on me. Being able to recognize areas of weakness and then collaborating to discover the best way to strengthen those areas is an important skill throughout life.”

Story by Diana L. Spencer, communications officer. Photos by Charles Herndon, communications specialist.

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