A voice for the student body is what high school senior Sam Traxel and juniors Sara Holland and Jackson Winters will strive to be as the first student liaisons for the Poplar Bluff R-1 Board of Education.
"I'm honored to be appointed and it's a great privilege to be one of the first liaisons for the school, and a great opportunity for everyone," Traxel said
The group will attend monthly board meetings during the 2017-18 academic year to offer their input regarding student life and to weigh in, when requested, on board discussion. The group also will be in a position to relay information regarding school board decisions to their peers after each meeting.
"The student body has a lot of concerns they recognize that sometimes the faculty and staff doesn't recognize because the student standpoint within the building is much different," Traxel said. "Just having someone there to represent them is a great thing."
The trio was selected by Student Council officials after board member Heather Tuggle pushed for student representatives to attend the meetings.
"This perpetuates transparency," Tuggle said. "It lets the student body be involved with the policies we are enforcing. It's good to hear what the students think. It's their education."
Tuggle said she learned about student liaisons during a school board conference she attended last fall. She said many other districts across the state are already doing it and knew she wanted Poplar Bluff to get involved.
"Some schools have a student on the actual board, as a non-voting member, but we changed ours so our liaisons are more like representatives who attend the meetings," she said.
Tuggle said there have been many board discussions in the past that would have benefited from student input, such as a recent decision regarding the discipline policy for students found with over-the-counter medication, and said she very is excited to work with the student body moving forward.
"I think the student liaisons will have a great positive impact on the school board," she said. "This is one of the things I really pushed for and really opens the door to better communication."
All three students have a shared interest in politics, leadership and participate in various extracurricular activities, including band, tennis and speech and debate. However, individually, they represent different aspects of the student body.
"The fact that there are boys and girls on this is good," Holland said. "We each have something different we will focus on."
The group agreed the first issue they plan to address is the dress code. Each liaison said they feel the dress code is unreasonably strict and leads to students, primarily girls, with no prior history of office referrals, getting sent home from school.
"When kids are getting sent home from school, and are having opportunity taken away from them because of what they are wearing, it's a big problem," Winters said. "But I'm also excited to see what's brought up in the meetings and to give our opinion on those things."
Tuggle said she thinks the relationship between the liaisons and the board will be mutually beneficial, and said it's a prime opportunity for students who are interested in leadership to see how a governmental body, such as the school board, works.