By JEREMY APPEL on October 11, 2019.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
A Grade 12 Monsignor McCoy High School student is the only Hatter to be selected for the education minister’s youth council.
Seth Akins joins 31 other students from across the province who will be meeting in Edmonton three times throughout the school year to provide input to Education Minister Adriana LeGrange. The first such meeting begins Oct. 25.
“I think it’s important to get involved in the decision-making process,” Akins said of his desire to be on board.
Since he’s 17, Akins can’t yet vote, but says he was attracted to the opportunity to engage himself in the political process and represent his fellow students.
“I’ve always been interested in government and due to the fact that I’m at the end of the Alberta education system, I figured that I can offer input, since I’ve been through it recently,” he said.
Akins says he applied to be on the council in June, a process which involved writing essays before a narrowed-down list of candidates was interviewed for a position.
The essays concerned “community involvement, leadership and what’s important to you – your values,” he said.
Akins wrote one essay about making education accessible and inclusive, an issue he wants to bring to the table at council.
“I know sometimes in smaller schools – even here – you don’t always have all the same options, so I’d say it’s important that everybody has equal opportunities, as well as making sure to include everybody and support people who need to be supported,” he said.
Akins acknowledges that this is no small task.
“It’s hard to include everybody, because everyone’s at a different level in their education, so some people need more help with some things and less help with others and it’s very hard to personalize that and give people the help they need sometimes,” he said. “I think that’s something the education system could use improvement on – helping those who aren’t excelling excel.”
As for future plans, Akins hopes to study computer science at the University of British Columbia for the 2020-21 school year.
This is a cool example of how a single essay and persistence can change everything. It’s very cool.