Mohammad Khawaja, MHPSD board chair Catherine Wilson and Myles Siwela. Khawaja and Siwela are two members of the newly created Student Senate.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
reporter@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Public School Division Board of Trustees has been discussing having student involvement at board meetings for about five years.
This year, a Student Senate has been created and the first two representatives – Mohammad Khawaja and Myles Siwela – joined the Sept. 27 meeting.
Catherine Wilson, board chair for the Medicine Hat Public School Division, said, “The previous board had always discussed bringing students in and starting a student trustee. We did some research with Edmonton public because they have a student trustee. Then I went to a conference in Ontario where I had a presentation with their student trustees and how it’s evolved and the interest students have.”
Wilson was intrigued. She and the other trustees often wonder what students want when discussing particular issues, as this is their education time and their voice matters.
The idea was brought forward to a few committees at the end of the last school year. Parents were excited about the idea, as were board members.
From there, superintendent Mark Davidson brought it to his team, seeking out teachers at both public high schools to find a diverse group of students to make up the senate.
“We wanted to ensure everyone who wanted to be a part of this would have a voice,” stated Wilson. “Even those who had never been a part of student leadership or felt they didn’t have the skills. We believe those can be taught and learned.”
Wilson is very proud of the board she sits on and that the Student Senate has gotten off the ground this year. Not only will students learn what the board of trustees does, but they will get to offer their opinion on issues where the board needs student input.
The students attending the board meeting then take the information back to the senate to have a conversation before bringing their ideas to the next board meeting.
“It’s a fabulous thing. We had been looking at doing this for at least five years and never took the jump,” Wilson said. “Times have changed and kids are now giving us more input on what they would like to see in their schools and people want to hear what they want.
“This has opened the door to a whole new way of looking at a board. Having a student trustee sitting there representing the student population means everything. For me it does, because they matter, we are doing this for them.”
See Tuesday’s paper for a story on the two new Student Senate members
