Changing of the Guard

As graduation day approaches, student ambassadors at  will pass on responsibilities to a new batch of seniors.

Both Farzaan Kassam and Emma Point, current ambassadors for the high school, have helped foster dialogue between students and the board since they were first inducted in August 2010.

“It's really rare to find students that come to the board meetings to express ideas,” Kassam said. “Through us, they're able to get the expression of other students, because we're out there getting others' opinions and bringing them back to the board.”

As board members, Kassam and Point hold advisory, non-voting positions. If students have concerns with school guidelines or services – from textbooks, to cafeteria food, to ACT prep classes – students ambassadors are there to hear concerns and relay them to the board.

“I think everyone's going to have a different opinion,” Kassam said. “You just have to do the best to accommodate everyone's beliefs.”

Point couldn't agree more.

“It's definitely nice that the students give input on what they're doing,” Point said, “because after all, it's almost always the decisions [the board] makes that are affecting us.”

In the weeks ahead, the board will select from several candidates to fill the ambassador position, originally intended for one student.

“When the board interviewed the candidates [last year], they were so impressed with Emma and Farzaan that they decided to appoint two ambassadors,” EPCHS Superintendent Beth Hart said. “I don't know if we'll have two for next year. We're certainly hoping to....”

Having two ambassadors this year allowed board members to receive more input, which “sincerely impacts them,” Hart added.

“They want the student input,” she stressed. “They're really driven to see what the students think.”

Concerns with bullying, the dress code, ACT preparation, block scheduling and academic achievement are also important to the board, which ambassadors have addressed on a student level.

“I didn't know much of what was going on around the school,” Point said. “There's so much more than just that, and there are a lot of different things the school has to deal with that you wouldn't think they should have to.”

Student ambassadors were even given the opportunity to vote at the end of the first semester, during the .

Point served as superintendent, while Kassam served as board president.

“We paired a board member with a student and they kind of talked about themselves,” Hart continued, “and what it meant for them to be on the board of education. Then the students actually ran the meeting.”

It's important for ambassadors to understand the voting process, Hart noted, and to develop leadership skills they can use down the road.

“Honestly, I saw how it doesn't take everyone's desire or vote to make something happen,” Kassam said. “The majority is the majority – that's democracy.”

As for next year's student ambassador candidates, the board will only elect someone who is serious about the job.

“I hope they really understand that the board sincerely wants to hear what they think,” Hart said. “We're looking for the type of person...that will really give us the student point of view, with a wide lens.”