Echo has taken on the task of breaking down Park’s mission statement into five parts, diving into how each aspect of the mission is fulfilled and how it continues to be achieved. Over five weeks, each part will consist of a three-source story, a photo gallery, a podcast and a video featuring the voices of students, staff, administration and outside experts. The mission statement we’re breaking down is, “Park Public Schools sees, inspires and empowers each student to achieve academic excellence and live their brilliance in a racially equitable learning environment that centers student voice and experience to energize and enhance the spirit of our community.”
According to Kara Marlin, every student’s voice needs to be heard because it helps create a safe environment where people feel valued. They said they hope to view a place in the future where everyone has a say because it is crucial to create a strong world.
“Schools are essentially a reflection of the world that we want to see, and I dream of living in a place where we value everybody’s perspective,” Marlin said. “That includes the perspectives of children, but also the perspectives of those that maybe we don’t hear from as often. By trying to make sure that everybody feels like their voice matters, then we get more perspectives, and when we get more perspectives, we’re better able to make decisions as a community about what’s going on to serve everybody.”
According to Em Hodge, State Chair for the Students United Organization, student voice is, and has proven to be historically, crucial to standing up for what is right and creating movements that push our world towards important decisions and equity.
“As college students, we are paying for this education and system,” Hodge said. “We are the main voices and drivers of contributing to the future workforce. Our voices are so important and can help inform those systems and have student advocacy. If you look at the history of protests on campus, student voices are always what have shaped social movements and have started social movements, and the student voice is just integral.”
Senior Echowan director Ivy Hoeschen said a significant part of allowing student voices to be heard is different clubs at Park, where students have the opportunity to be leaders and have their voices be heard in different parts of the school. She said clubs are especially important because many people join and get to have different roles in the club.
“We have a lot of different clubs and leadership activities, like the yearbook, where kids get to be a part of a real-world experience, and share their voice through helping others and incorporating the diversity of our school into that too,” Hoeschen said. “I think all of (Park’s clubs) have leadership and different clubs have a large voice. I think leadership in the clubs definitely has the loudest voice, especially with Echowan and Echo because we’re such a big part of the school community; we get the opportunity to share so many different voices and experiences of our school community.”
Marlin said student voice means truly listening to students’ needs and their personal interests. They said it’s important to give students opportunities to share their perspectives and be involved in decisions about classes and how the school community is shaped.
“Student voice in the context of my classroom means listening to what my students tell me they need, and listening to the things that they’re passionate about and curious about,” Marlin said. “In terms of the school, I think that student voice means giving students the opportunity to share their perspective on big decisions that we make as a school, from the types of classes we offer to what our school day looks like. It means giving students a place to be part of the planning process of what our school community is going to look and feel like.”
According to Hodge, student voice is rooted in local community engagement and giving students opportunities to share their perspectives at higher levels. She said building trust and strong relationships between students and administrators is essential for genuine input in decisions.
“For our organization, (which helps make) sure students’ voices are being heard, everything goes back to local community engagement,” Hodge said. “Monthly board meetings, advocacy and action conferences and Lobby Day give students in-person experience and train them to use their voices, prioritizing all perspectives and working across the metro to find common ground. Student voices can easily fall short depending on how schools engage with students; without strong relationships and trust between administrators and students, it cannot be fully prioritized.”
Hoeschen said student input is beginning to play a larger role in school decisions, but it is still not fully consistent. She said Echowan had the chance to have direct engagement with school leaders, which has helped improve the inclusion of student perspectives and shows potential for continued growth.
“Student experiences are sometimes taken into account when decisions are made, but there’s definitely room for improvement, and I think it’s been getting better as the year has gone on,” Hoeschen said. “We had the chance to have the superintendent come in and see (Echowan’s) work, our experiences and what we do during class. It was cool to see the school get interested in what we’re doing, and I definitely think if principals, teachers and superintendents continue doing that, there will be lots of improvement seen (with student voice).”
