The Harwood Union Leadership Team is a group of students, teachers and administrators who work together to implement student voice and continue to refine and build Harwood’s assessment system. Leadership team is just like a normal class and is held every other day for 90 minutes. To be a part of the leadership team, students must apply and be selected. Currently, there are six student members and eight adult members.
Recently the students of the leadership team, along with students from Youth and Adults Transforming Schools Together (YATST) and Student Government, interviewed and selected three Harwood Union High School students to be student representatives on the school board. They are to be nonvoting members but will provide input and offer their opinions and perspective during discussions. They will also be listening to the concerns of their peers at Harwood and will bring them to the table during once-a-month presentations. These student representatives will be the connection from the Harwood student body to the members of the HUUSD Board. They will attend every school board meeting and report back to the student body on the issues the school board has been discussing. After interviewing many outstanding candidates, the three students who were chosen to represent the student body were Carlton Cummiskey, Hannah Clark and Jake Lynn. The first meeting they attended was on Wednesday, December 19, and they will continue to attend all school board meetings throughout the rest of the year.
Later this winter, the students of the leadership team are hosting a student summit at Harwood that will include students from schools around Vermont. This is the second student summit hosted by Harwood. After the first year of success, the importance of continuing this important work was obvious. The day will consist of activities and discussions that will help students understand how they can be more involved in decision making at their respective schools. The discussion topics will be school climate/administrators’ relationship with students and understanding the merit of proficiency-based learning (PBL). Organizers hope this summit will help student voice and student understanding of PBL in Vermont.
