Oregon students (from left) Riley Templeton and Javier Quintana took part in a student panel discussion on rural schools moderated by OSBA Vice President Emily Smith (Helix).
Students stood front and center in many respects over the weekend during the country’s largest annual gathering of school board members.
Among them were two from Oregon: Riley Templeton, a Yoncalla High sophomore, and Javier Quintana, a Phoenix High junior. They served on two student panels on rural schools at the National School Boards Association’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, which will wrap up Monday.
The national conference explored themes ranging from school law to race relations to transforming classroom spaces through equitable design practices. One of the most powerful threads, however, was elevating student voices – a theme amplified by Javier and Riley.
“I think it’s really important to get students involved because it gives them a voice,” Templeton said. She provides monthly updates to the Yoncalla School Board and said, “I do feel that our school board members really listen to us and understand what we’re saying.”
Yoncalla is a small town near Interstate 5 between Eugene and Roseburg. Templeton counts herself among 27 members of her high school’s sophomore class. One of the challenges of living in a small logging community, she said, is not having more extracurricular activities to keep students engaged in school.
“Without clubs, some students don’t have an outlet to express themselves,” she said. “They need opportunities for their mental health and well-being.”
Quintana concurred, saying rural students often “have to chase opportunity instead of it being easy to find.” Phoenix sits between Medford and Ashland.
Another challenge for rural schools, he said, is finding experienced teaching staff.
“It’s hard to adapt your junior year to a new teacher, especially when it’s their first year of teaching,” he said.
Both Oregon students pointed out that along with the challenges of rural schools come certain advantages, including a strong sense of shared purpose.
“You really get to know your community,” Quintana said. “It’s also easy to stand out and not be a number. You just feel more involved.”
Among those who attended the Saturday rural schools student panel was Josiah Barron, a Umatilla School Board member since 2021. He said he attended the conference to learn from colleagues across the country, particularly on student-related issues.
“As school board members, our mission is representing students,” he said. “I’m 28, so pretty young, but things are changing all the time. Having new ideas coming in helps keep your perspective. If you need to recalibrate, you have to ask: Are we actually student focused?”
Kerry Callahan, superintendent of California’s Western Placer Unified School District near Sacramento, led a workshop on assuring authentic student voice. In recent years, she said, it became apparent that the issues the adults considered important didn’t always align with students’ priorities, which raised the question: “Are we really, authentically hearing the voice of our young people?”
The answer was a resounding no, leading to a coordinated effort to establish a Student Senate advisory group around the catchphrase: “Nothing about them without them.” In other words, as she put it, “If we are going to do things for them, we need to do things with them.”
In another session, Francesca “Frankie” Silverstein, student representative to the Portland School Board, outlined how boards can encourage student-centered decision-making. One strategy Portland Public Schools has adopted is holding an annual student summit and encouraging board members and top administrators to attend and listen.
“The student engagement doesn’t stop at the summit,” she said. “You need to make sure there are more opportunities later on.”
During Saturday’s general session, Gustavo Balderas, superintendent of the Beaverton School District and incoming president of the American Association of School Administrators, told attendees he was glad to see superintendents and school board members learning together.
“I’m the proud son of a migrant worker,” he said. “And I understand the power of public education. There are kids like me in our public schools right now who need a champion. You’re the champion for our kids.”
– Alex Pulaski, OSBA
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