Student Panel

By Sadie Sweet

After a google form was sent out asking about our school’s dress code policy, twenty-five students were selected. Eight students were present at the meeting to represent the student

body. This meeting also occurred at the Junior High School with some Junior High students. On November 9, 2021, they held a meeting in the auditorium. All the high school staff was present in the audience, administrators directing the meeting, and students on stage answering the questions. The students involved were Ava Slinchak, Ellianna ViCirca, Colleen Silk, Sadie Sweet, Colin Hullings, Yasmin Elgamal, Joel Mott, & Evan Flores. They were asked a total of seven questions about our school. The overall outcome was beneficial to our school, students, staff, and district as a whole. One of the participants, Ellianna ViCirca, thought it was a great idea for students to let their thoughts and opinions be heard. The administration had picked students from all over the school that were different from each other. One of the two seniors on the panel, Colin Hullings, had stated a change he would like to see in the district. He wants to lessen the amount of money given to the higher administration and increase wages for teachers to increase productivity in the classroom. Colin also believes that it could not only make productivity percentage higher within classes but also believes it could make teachers more enthusiastic to be working with other staff and students. Most people believe teachers deserve to be paid more. It is proven that teachers make 20% less than other professionals who contain the same amount of experience and education. Sophomore Evan Flores simply wants everything to be made fair for students in school. No matter how different we may be to one another, his wish is to make things equally balanced within the school. Ellianna was asked, what major change would you make to the school. Her response was ¨There should be something for the students who are in good standing to be noticed and have more opportunities or privileges.¨ Our staff listened to the students very well and took in all of their responses. A tough topic that was discussed between the panel was the personal device policy. They had asked the students how they felt if they had to put their phones in their lockers for the day. The students responded with the fear of their personal devices getting stolen or not being able to have contact with anyone in case of an emergency. The student panel also informed the administration that they should do meetings like this frequently to make Pinelands Regional a safe and enjoyable environment for all who attend the school.