Student Leadership

By: Alaysia Curry and Daylun Armstrong

March 22, 2022

Superintendent Dr. Theodore Caleris along with the Brooklyn City School District created a student leadership program “to provide leadership opportunities for students, to learn from them, and to ultimately give me (Dr. Caleris) the opportunity to connect and interact with our students at the high school.”

This program started last year when Dr. Caleris met with Brooklyn High School Principal Mr. Brian Hare to discuss this great opportunity for students.

On certain Fridays each month, a few students from each grade level (8-12) are called down to the Board of Education office to meet with Dr. Caleris, Mr. Hare, and Mr. Larson (BHS Assistant Principal). 

At these meetings, an array of topics are discussed and students get to voice their opinions on what they like about the school district and what they think needs to be changed. It is also a time where students can connect with one another and the administration in a comfortable environment. 

“I believe this program is important because it focuses on students and our opinions. It means a lot for us to be able to implement our own ideas to further the success of a Brooklyn education,” stated senior Alex Hernandez. 

Sophomore Desiree Gailes also enjoys being a part of this group and had this to say: “I think it is important to have leadership meetings to get updates on how the school is operating and what we need to fix. These meetings get opinions and perspectives from different grades, which allows us to come up with reasonable changes that fit our needs. Leadership meetings take input from students to make the school a better learning environment.”

As students, this program holds a great deal of importance to make sure that our voices are actually being heard by administrators and that our opinions, thoughts, and changes about the school district are being listened to. 

“This has been a great way to learn from our students and get to know them outside of the classroom. Our students have different perspectives on things we do in the district. Our students have great ideas on how to make Brooklyn a better school district,” stated Dr. Caleris.

There are many more topics to discuss at future meetings, and we cannot wait for current students and future BHS students to continue making this school district a better place for all.