My 8-Year Old’s Trip to the School Board was Amazing

My son decided to join me in attending our local school board meeting.

I assumed he would be bored within minutes.  I was delightfully wrong!

Some favorite highlights from his experience:

✳ On Increasing Attendance at Board Meetings: A board member shared he was “leaning toward slides" for his next report out. “Yes!” my son whisper-shouted. Upon learning the slides were power point slides, not actual slides, his disappointment was immediate. I think my son might be onto something here...

✳ On Teacher Appreciation: When my son saw pictures of his teachers included in some teacher appreciation slides (once more of the PPT nature), he jumped out of his seat, unable to contain his excitement. I wish his teachers had seen his authentic, heart-felt enthusiasm.

✳ On What Kids Pay Attention To: Everything. He connected to social studies and science curriculum references (“Hey, we have that in my class!”), had questions about Ohio's new cell phones in schools law, was awed by board’s student representative, was surprisingly focused on the district’s latest 5-year forecast data (which led to a follow-up discussion about levies, voting, how we pay for schools & what that means for students), & now has plans for his first public comment (about lunch lines).

✳ On Building Kids Up: My son was nervous about attending such a formal-feeling meeting, full of adult people, adult words & “Robert’s Rules." Our school board members & district leaders went out of their way to talk to him & encourage both his attendance & questions (“I can't believe the president talked to me!”). When we left, he was beaming with pride, saying over and over “I did it! I did it! I went to the meeting!”

My son reminded me, once again, that students are so capable, thoughtful and curious! Feeling so much gratitude for educators who bring students to the table in education discussions, knowing their experiences and perspectives will make our system stronger.