On March 6, 2024, ELA Department Chair, Jana Poos, organized the first student-teacher panel to discuss the district implemented: ‘Time Out To Talk’ Initiative. The panel comprised around 12 students with varying backgrounds and academic performance, including athletes, high achievers, and regular students. The panel lasted for the entire 9th period, and here’s a summary of what happened.

Due to limited space, only a select few students were allowed to join the panel. Poos and the administration team had to pre-approve the participants, making it a point to choose specific students in an attempt to allow diverse perspectives.

“I feel like it gave people who don’t get to talk about the school a chance to speak up.” He added, “For the first trial run, it was a good selection of people,” Jalen Davis Smith, 12, said in satisfaction for the panel. 

At the beginning of the panel, students spoke about various topics such as sports, ACT testing, the upcoming panel’s expectations but most importantly, they shared many differing statistics and observations on school fights. Students agreed on the general idea that the adults and home life of the students were going to be one of the most important factors in fights at school. 

“If you have parents that don’t care, you have more students that are willing to do whatever they want.” Arwa Abed, 11, said while expressing her opinions on the influence of home life at school. 

Most people agreed that home life was a variable factor for how students will behave in other social situations, such as school. Poos did an excellent job of presenting facts and infographic charts while also respecting the students’ opinions and responding to them without being condescending. 

“I wrote four full pages on what the students said.” Poos said in response to the progress of the student panel.

Overall, the panel was a unique opportunity to hear student voices while also being extensively helpful for the administrative and faculty team. Poos organized and planned for months to make this happen and was able to put on an amazing panel that challenged students’ ideas and thoughts and brought new concepts into the district implemented: ‘Time Out To Talk’ Initiative.