A group of South Seneca High School students recently attended the FLX Resiliency and Equity Conference in Syracuse.
Students started the day getting to listen to Regent Wade Norwood speak about the challenges and opportunities of our time and remind us of the timeless importance of community. They then spent the afternoon participating in World Cafe Discussions about education, community, and graduation that were done in a community circle format with educators and peers from across the state.
Their commentary and questions will be carried forward by Syracuse University Research Assistants and Community Schools partners. A qualitative report for the NYS Board of Regents, that will also be shared statewide, will come from the conversations.
High School Principal Sarah Horton said the experience was everything she envisioned – and more.
“Attending this conference with my students was a personal professional highlight for me in my career,” Horton said. “It was energizing to see a group of learners so eager to participate in this opportunity and share their thoughts.”
“They were eager to have their voices heard,” she continued, “and I am hopeful to connect them, and other students, with similar opportunities in the future. Historically, adults make all of the decisions regarding what is best for students and often students themselves are not asked. I love to see that we are finally looking to hear, and hopefully genuinely consider, student voices when we are making decisions. They have so much to contribute to the conversation – it is important we listen.”
Students who attended the conference came away with similar overwhelming positive impressions of the conference.
“Overall, I think that the Resilience and Equity Conference yesterday went really well,” senior Nik Wheeler said. “Not only was the conference welcoming to students and the opinions of those students, but it was also extremely comforting to hear similar opinions from board members and other adults who are involved with regents testing. Some of the great things we discussed at our round-table group included how school needs to be engineered differently, how electives and mandatory classes need to be reevaluated regarding life value, and how school needs to be focused on practicality instead of testing and evaluation. My only hope for this event is whether any of the ideas being discussed will actually come to life and be seen in our schools.”
Student Elizabeth Dendis added: “I think that this was a very beneficial event and I loved the diversity of people that I saw there – not everyone was a student or a teacher and some people didn't even work in school systems which gave a very wide point of view. I am also very impressed that they actually plan to do something with these discussions and take them to people who actually have the power to make a change.”