Niles West offers a variety of clubs for students to get involved and express themselves during their four years of high school, one of which is student government. Many students come together during fourth-period lunch once a week to plan and put together fundraisers and events for their class. Recently, there has been talk of the possibility that the meeting times will be changed.
This did not sit well with many of the cabinet and government members because there are sports after school and other clubs, which would decrease the number of members. Another option was for students to come for early bird, but that time would also cause problems. A petition was made in hopes of keeping the club during school hours, which lots of members had signed.
Junior Emilia Rydzewski Student Government Officer has been an avid member of student government having lots of involvement. She expresses her thoughts on the possibility of student gov being changed.
“If I’m being honest, I think it’s going to be detrimental to student involvement. A lot of our members either have other commitments after school or aren’t able to get to school early because of the lack of an early bird bus, so the during school day is the only time they can participate. Sure, one can make the argument that some classes students take are only offered during fourth period and they aren’t able to become a member of cabinet or government. But, that is such a small percentage in comparison to all the people that would be affected by the meeting being moved,” Rydzewski said.
Rydzewski elaborates how there was not a lot of student input in the decision as well as how many students would have not been able to attend due to other commitments.
“If meetings were to be moved, other obligations that pick up throughout the year would get in the way even more. I don’t see this going any other way than a detrimental plummet in attendance. In my opinion, a lot of decisions have been made quietly and without any student input. For a school writing themselves on student voice, it has felt nothing but taken away in this entire situation,” Rydzewski said.
Samrah Musani president of sophomore cabinet also explains her views and opinion on the entire situation and that keeping it during the school day is important to the students attendance.
“Personally, I think we should keep it during lunch because a lot of students, especially those in cabinet, do a lot of sports and activities after school and this will make it more difficult for them to participate. One thing they were thinking about was the orchestra students. However, many of us have talked about it and we think it would make more sense to move it to a different lunch period instead of moving it after school. I think it could work if they try, however, I don’t think it’s the best idea,” Musani said.
Sophomore Cabinet Advisor and Student Counselor, Stephanie Lau, was not informed about the change but many of her students came to her with their concerns. She prefers having the meetings during fourth because she feels it is easier to have all her students there.
“I prefer it to be during fourth period because it makes it easier to have meetings with the whole cabinet as opposed to like after school. I always liked the idea that there should be an activity that’s during a the day so students with other obligations can attend. I was never told anything about the situation and don’t know when or who is making the ultimate decision. I found out from one of my students coming up and telling me about the situation,” Lou said.
Caitlin Lucci, student activities director, explains how she has little to no information on the situation and wants to do what is best for all the students that attend West. Lucci is not sure when a decision will be made definitely but there are a lot of factors going into the choice.
“I want to make sure we are maximizing everyone’s hard work and making sure we that we are moving forward together. I’m looking at different ways we could potentially do that. There are some things that are out of my control in terms of decisions that the district makes. As if right now nothing has been finalized and It’s not just up to me. I want to make sure that we remove as many barriers as possible, we have 2,500 students and I want to make sure everyone has access, like an even playing field,” Lucci said.
While many students are concerned about the period change Principal, Jeremy Christian, explains he is trying his best to cater to every student that attends West. But this is a legal issue that was brought to him and he wants to find the best solution for everyone involved.
“I never want to lie from an HR perspective, there are things that have to be worked out to make it to where sponsors are being compensated for that time, they can be working as a teacher and getting paid for sponsors at that same time, that’s the legal HR part,” Christian said.
