In an effort to celebrate its diversity and better understand the experience of a variety of students, Wright City High School has launched a student leadership team. A conversation between Principal Matt Brooks and Assistant Principal Chris Brandriff sparked the idea, which has taken form over the 2020-21 school year.

“We had talked about how we could get students more directly involved in how the school operates and functions,” said Brooks. “We wanted to expand the student voice.”

The administrators reached out to teaching staff for suggestions and nominations for potential representatives for the group. 

“We wanted it to be a diverse group, spanning all of our grade levels,” said Brooks. “This would allow all voices to have a seat at table.” 

Brandriff says he was looking for a better way to connect with the student body to gain new perspectives and understand student concerns and needs.

“I’m always interested in leadership, so I thought putting a group together to be able to connect building administrators and students would be a good start,” said Brandriff. 

The leadership team has around 20 student representatives who meet every Monday to bring new ideas and discussions to the forefront. The written purpose of the group is “to engage in dialogues and discussions that will result in lasting positive change for the entire Wright City community.”

“The first real question was ‘what is it like to be a student at Wright City High School?’” said Brandriff. “What are things as building leaders that we assume but don’t fully understand that they want us to know about?”

These could be general challenges faced by teenagers, family life, expectations for life and school.

“We’ve had some really good discussions without making any decisions and some good discussions to make decisions that we can hopefully build upon for years to come,” said Brandriff.

The group is also bringing diversity awareness and recognizing the unique origins of its students.

“Last year we noticed we really didn’t do anything for Black history, women’s history or Hispanic history,” said Brandriff. “We wanted to acknowledge that history.”

The group has made posters for celebratory months and plans to recognize female staff members during Women’s History Month in March. Student leaders have also embraced the idea of community service, collecting over 250 pairs of shoes for NECAC during November. 

“I think this lets folks know that we do respect what students have to say, because the school is here for them,” said Brooks. “The mission is we’re dedicated to student success. We want them to make sure they know they have a vital role in what the high school looks like and how we address certain things here.”

Brandriff says the group is very much focused on making certain every voice and idea are heard, whether an agreement can be made or not.

“We want to explore how we can respect each other as human beings and be better listeners,” said Brandriff. “For instance, if someone is trying to engage with us, how can we respectfully listen by putting our phones away and making a connection.”

The Student Leadership Team is also discussing the possibility of hosting an E-Sports Tournament in April as a fundraiser for the Blue and Gold Scholarship Fund.