High school students coming together to share experiences, help shape future of district

High school students from across Springfield Public Schools (SPS) are coming together to share their experiences, discuss challenges, and propose solutions to improve their educational environment as part of an inspiring initiative. The SPS High School Student Voice Project, which restarted in April 2024 following a lengthy pause, places significant responsibility and leadership in the hands of students, giving them a platform to influence district decisions.

The project consists of a diverse group of students from across the District's four high schools. The team of students use the platform to identify problems and explore practical solutions that are affecting their schools. 

After thorough discussions and open dialogue, the students established three primary focus areas for the project:

• Safety and bullying
• Classroom engagement
• Mental health

“The SPS High School Student Voice is designed to foster student empowerment and activism; to bring a diverse group of students together to be in dialogue with one another and district leaders,” explains Taylor Madden, equity and inclusion coordinator. “The ultimate goal is to help district leaders understand what students need and what students are asking for in their own words.”

According to Madden, the project also helps students feel they are part of the decision-making processes in their own district and helps them understand better district initiatives and priorities.

Mental Health: Personal Stories and Collective Solutions
Friends Eliyah Montgomery and Callie Meadows, both junior students at Thurston High School, joined Student Voice because they are both concerned about mental health issues.

“I'm very interested in what we talk about and make an impact at each of our schools,” said Montgomery. “And I think we get hands on experience and an opportunity to actually share what we think. And that's huge, because that doesn't happen for a lot of students.”

As a Black Student Union member and school leader, Montgomery could have joined any team, but chose to tackle Mental Health because she hopes one day to become a psychologist and help people struggling with mental health.

In the case of Meadows, the subject is much more personal.

“I’ve struggled with mental health,” said Meadows. “It's a big topic around our world and our campus, and data shows it impacts a lot. I want people to know it is a real thing.”

To advance mental health and safety concerns in THS, the duo has helped implement “Safe Boxes” around school. There are seven boxes, one for each student affiliation group. Students can anonymously drop a note on any box to express a concern or bad experience. Student leaders then collect the notes and depending on the issue, either intervene as peers or communicate the issue to school administrators. The system helps students build trust with peers and student leaders, and each affiliation group helps build a community of inclusiveness and respect.

“I highly value student voices in our decisions that affect their education experience,” says Mindy LeRoux, director of high schools. “I often have found that when we take the time to incorporate their voice, we end-up with a better solution than when we don’t. Everything we do is for the students, so it only makes sense to include them in the process.”

LeRoux strongly believes the listening and brainstorming sessions with students tend to support best practices in modern education. For example, when discussions identified student engagement as an area of focus, students shared that they want to be doing more of the work to learn rather than being passive learners. Most students expressed they do not enjoy sitting in desks absorbing information (or trying to) when they know that teachers can put them in groups with a meaningful task to meet a learning objective.

Safety and Bullying: A Personal Mission
For Aliyah Benito, a sophomore at Springfield High School, the focus on Safety and Bullying is deeply personal. Having experienced bullying and safety anxiety in her early school years, Benito is passionate about making schools safer. She is part of a team producing public service announcement videos aimed at promoting awareness about bullying and encouraging students to speak up.

“I've experienced bullying, like in middle school and also safety anxiety, like in elementary school,” said Benito, “I used to be kind of scared to come to school because of all the things that were going on with school shootings.”

Benito has been very concerned about fights that have taken place at school and the perception of SHS in the community. Benito is part of team of students making public service announcement videos aimed at raising awareness about bullying, Every Student Belongs policy, and teaching students how to speak-up and connect with the school administration. Her time with the project is about to conclude, but she is hoping the many conversations that have started will continue in the next year. Above all, she hopes students experiencing bullying will reach out to others and join a club or group they can connect with.

“There is always a community,” said Benito. “I found a community in Student Voice and the SHS Theatre Department. I came to Springfield not having a lot of friends and just being lonely, but I found a safe, personal space in those communities.”

District-wide Impact and Looking Forward
Other conversations led to a better understanding of the limits of what the district and students can do. A key example is when students focused on mental health concerns and supports. District staff pointed to a number of realities and constraints—many of the related issues are simply too big for the district and students to solve, such as the lack of local health providers.

In the months to come the different student groups will continue to meet with SPS officials and teachers to discuss actionable steps and projects for each of the focus areas. The project is a powerful reminder that student voice, when heard and valued, can drive meaningful change in education.