Seckman's Student Summit

By: Janese Watson

           At Seckman High School, students were recently called to the multipurpose room for a meeting about making a change. Seckman called this meeting ‘The Student Summit.’ It was a random selection of students from each advisory.
           Once everyone was settled, they were split into groups of ten or more, where they discussed what good things we have going on at Seckman, as well as what things could change for the better. There were a lot of great ideas tossed around and expressed from each student, and everyone hoped that these ideas could actually make a change. Each student was told to take the information back to their own advisory to share what they learned from other people.
           One of the main things discussed was bullying and how some people dealing with bullies have no way to talk to another person to try and help the situation. “I know a lot of people that want to reach out, but can’t,” says senior Juliahna Ramiraz. It’s hard for a person that’s getting bullied to turn to someone. To them, it matters, but they are often too afraid to see if it matters to anyone else. They are too afraid to stand up for themselves and let out their problems. Students came up with one solution to this issue, an idea called the “happy place.” This is a place where students who feel like talking, but just don’t have the urge to talk to their friends or family, go to share what they have to say to a stranger. It may seem like something someone would never do, but having someone listen to you who cares can have a huge positive impact.
            Another thing students came up with is a box made for keeping people’s secrets. If you have a secret, about anything, you can write it down and put it in this secret box. This could be anonymous or named. If you put your name on the paper, this gives the counselors permission to look more into your situation or problem. Being anonymous, however, is just a way for people to let out things they are keeping in. This is a great wait for people to release stress or issues without saying it out loud.
Something everyone at the summit clearly noticed is that, unfortunately, some students feel unsafe at Seckman High School. Everyone should feel at home at school, because school is practically your second home, believe it or not. There were kids raising their hands saying they feel hallways aren't always well supervised. This is a huge problem for kids who are afraid. “Teachers and staff that are supposes to monitor the hallways should (always be there),” says Larkyn Hendrickson, a senior at Seckman.
            At one point during the summit, some students expressed that some teachers just “don't care.” “Being a teacher is hard work, we have bad days too, but we still care,” says teacher Ms. Torrini. Teachers do have a hard job, and for them not to care would make it pointless even to come to work. All of our teachers care, but they are human beings, after all, and can get frustrated with students. Sometimes taking the initiative to ask questions or open the line of communication with a teacher will show you just how much they really do care!
          It is important to make a change at Seckman, and all of these ideas were wonderful ones.  Everyone who attended the summit looks forward to seeing if we can improve the future of Seckman High School.