STEP 1: BUILDING A TEAM OF STUDENT CONSULTANTS
Recruit a group of student consultants. The group should be include diverse voices and should have experienced varying levels of academic success, engagement, and positive relationships with teachers.
At your school site, how can you include students of varying races, students in varying grade levels, English Language Leaners, students with special needs, students receiving free and reduced lunch, and students with varying academic performance and classroom conduct?
IN PRACTICE
At High Tech Middle Chula Vista, we announced the opportunity with a slide on our school-wide advisory announcements. We sent out an email immediately following advisory to all students with application instructions.
In total, 27 students applied for the program, including two English Language Learners and two students with IEPs. The group is comprised of mostly Hispanic students, and also includes some white, Asian, and African-American students. A portion of the students in the group receive free and reduced lunch.
We were pleased to see that several of the students who volunteered for this opportunity were students who seemed generally less vocal (e.g., did not run for our student council, identified themselves as needing to grow in leadership). Students' included reasons for applying such as, "I want to help people and be a stronger leader," and, "I never have pictured myself being a leader or taking charge in a group project, but I would really like to build up these skills." If this hadn't been the case, we might have supplemented our process with a more targeted approach, such as asking teachers and students to privately nominate fitting candidates.
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MORE RESOURCES:
sample announcements, applications, and student application responses.
BUILD
