ASB students speak their piece to Kent School Board

To hear the Associated Student Body representatives from each of Kent’s high schools tell it, the most interesting thing to come out of the joint meeting with members of the Kent School Board was how much they all have in common.

That and the “Stop the Bop” fundraising idea offered by the delegation from Kent-Meridian, of course.

Armed with responses to board questions and questions of their own, the representatives sat down Jan. 14 with members of the board and the administration to share pizza, soda and ideas about their respective schools.

The students, three reps from each traditional high school and two from the Kent Phoenix Academy, shared their concerns and question for the board, ranging from “what exactly does the board do?” to more pressing concerns, such as the need for a culminating project, which CJ Capes, ASB President from Kentridge, asked on behalf of his school.

Each student was asked what they would change if they could. Capes said it would be the project.

“I don’t like how broad the culminating project is,” he said, saying the students don’t feel like the project is preparing them for anything.

Meanwhile, the reps from Kentlake said they would like to see the staff more involved and if they could change anything, it would be additional school spirit.

When prompted, the students said perhaps if money was no object, making sure each student had at least one Kentlake T-shirt would be a good start.

At Kentwood, ASB Vice-President Kelsey Bradfield said she would try to increase the schools’ involvement with sports that get lower participation.

“I would have the cheerleaders go to less-popular sports,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kentwood ASB President Kevin Massimino said he would place more emphasis on college in the junior year because much of the process really begins to ramp up and when it hits, it is like “a big brick wall you hit.”

The students were then given a chance to ask the board any question they wanted, with some asking about snow day policy and others asking the board for more visits to their school.

Travis Tran of Kent-Meridian asked about funding priorities, saying he wanted more money for the school’s fledgling debate club.

Board president Jim Berrios promised answers to the students’ questions and urged them to check the Web site to find answers to some of their questions.

“We’re not giving you answers right now because we don’t have them yet,” he said, smiling.

The students also shared with the board some of the obstacles they face as teenagers in Kent, with several talking about the workload and expectations and time management.

“There’s a lot of stuff we have to deal with as high schoolers now,” offered Capes.

Cliques within the school also provide an obstacle, though the students from Kentlake were impressed by the Kent Phoenix Academy reps who said because their school is smaller, cliques are not really a problem.

Tran said at his school “life itself is the biggest obstacle” for some kids, citing poverty issues and other real-life concerns that can sneak into a teenager’s life.

Finally, the students were allowed to simply share with each other, to discuss what they were doing at their schools and offer ideas, like the “Stop the Bop” fundraiser, which gets students to donate money by playing an annoying song during lunch until a goal is reached.

Students from Kentwood also shared their recent food drive successes, offering the other schools advice to try a little competition among the students.

But at the end, all of the students seemed relived to simply know the others were out there and that life as a teenager is not that different from school to school in the Kent district.

“It’s kind of nice to see a mirror version of us in other schools,” Tran said. “And it breaks down barriers.”