The annual Western School Division Student Forum took place Wednesday, Feb 8th at the Morden Collegiate Backstage Theatre, where students from grades 4-12 took part in team building games and round table discussions with Board members and administration staff listening and recording student feedback.
Board Chair Brian Fransen described the day.
"We brought together a collection of students from grades 4 to 12 and had table discussion groups talking about various topics that impact the kids' education as they're going through the system, to provide feedback to us old people who are on the board and in senior admin to inform some of the decision making as we're going into the first year of our four-year planning cycle. It's really great to hear the feedback they have on their current real-time experience in our education system so we can make better decisions moving forward."
School Board Trustees were paired with Divisional Administration and Sr Administration at five different tables each with a different topic to discuss and gather feedback, recorded on large pieces of paper. The five topics were mental health, community welcoming and social aspect of school, technology and social media, and academics.
Fransen gave his perspective on his table discussions.
"On the topic of technology and social media, where I was sitting, it was quite interesting talking about technology in schools. You'll often hear in media and maybe even on social media seeing people talking negatively about the younger generations and their interaction with technology. I'll tell you they are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of technology. They know what's happening and what's impacting them. Are they all handling it properly, and healthily? Maybe not. Some of them are, some of them aren't, but they are aware of what's going on and that part of the discussion is a great launching point for some of the challenges we have facing us as we move deeper into the 21st century."
Grade four student Ilia Zhivaga shared a highlight he remembered from the day.
"One time they asked, 'What's a community?' and one of the kids said in my group community is a capybara. There is a group of animals that helps each other. They are helping each other, helping each other to get food, and living with each other, and that's a part of our community."
Grade eleven student Mohammed Hamida enjoyed the experience.
"Today was a really good experience for the school board to hear the students. It's really important to see their perspective about things and it was a good moment for everybody to communicate and interpret their ideas into the school. There are many ideas. I mentioned that people want to happen in school. Some of them are good, some of them. Are harder to imply, but overall, it was really important for school to experience this."
Hamida appreciated the opportunity to give feedback on infrastructure, online activities, and technology and improving academics.
Ideas from other students were given such as learning more history in school, helping newcomer students settle in with a Culture Day, and using technology to learn.
Fransen stated our education system is vital for our entire society and it would be silly to make decisions about what is going on in the schools without talking to the people who are actively participating in them.
This feedback will be used in the Board Strategic Planning in Spring to set the direction for the division through the Board Priority Plan for this term.
