Superintendent Dr. Mikkel Storaasli created a new group that helps give students input to improve different aspects of the school environment.
Storaasli formed two groups, one at each Grayslake campus, to meet quarterly and discuss different parts of the school that need improvement. Topics varied from the parking lot to the air conditioning/ heating issues. Every student was able to share their voice how and whenever they wanted to.
“I thought it would be good to bring a group together to simply talk about what is on students’ minds,” Storaasli said, “If things are going on that I can work with the principals on and help with, fantastic. If we hear we’re doing some things right, then I can make sure we know to keep doing those things!”
They started off the first meeting with a provided lunch, which was tacos from the cafeteria, and after that they jumped right into different topics.
“Yeah, we did not waste a minute there,” said junior Makenna Campbell. “It was really beneficial, and I think that our goal is to make every student be heard.”
We discussed topics like school improvement, but also what we enjoy at our school. We were able to talk about our favorite teachers/staff, and what they do to improve our high school experience.
“I think the topics were beneficial for understanding what kind of school North is, but I also got to learn about a lot of other people and a lot of different perspectives,” said senior and student representative of the Board of Education Jayashri Madan.
Although this wasn’t a huge group of students, each student had a different background, experience, and perspective of Grayslake North. Each student was able to represent themselves and other people similar to them to improve areas of the school like the theater, art, or girls athletics.
“We want to make sure we have enough students to make sure we can have good discussions, but not so many that it gets hard to hear everyone’s voice. We asked students who we thought were a good representation across the school: a mix of different years in school, people who are in different types of activities (or people who aren’t in an activity), and different gender identification,” Storaasli said.
This meeting was invite only to make sure they got the variance in student voices. The purpose of this group was to give student voice and perspective to the superintendent since he normally hears the teachers’ and staff’s voices. He felt that he could make a change and listen to what the students have to say about the school environment and make it feel safe and secure for everyone.
“I liked the open discussion of some improvements. For the school, it was really nice to hear everyone’s voice and everyone’s opinions. It was a good eye-opener,” Campbell said.
