The student representatives to the Board of Education have somewhat less to report this issue. They have continued the recycling program, but have experienced difficulty with procuring the necessary lids for the bins. However, they hope that success is now within reach as lids have been found, albeit without holes in the center. It may be a weekend project sometime in the near future for the student representatives to cut the holes themselves.
In other news, the Board of Education has been engaged in conversation with Zero Waste Ithaca to possibly expand the reusable spork program at Boynton Middle School to other ICSD schools. Unfortunately, Boynton has experienced sixty percent spork loss, much of it likely due to accidental theft. The district hopes to develop a more efficient system of retaining utensils before unveiling them to other district locations.
Thirdly, the student representatives have scheduled a meeting with Board President Dr. Sean Eversley Bradwell to discuss the abandonment of accelerated math programs in sixth and seventh grade. They hope the discussion will be fruitful and that both parties can learn from the perspectives and experiences of the other. Additionally, there has lately been a great deal of confusion about how standards based grading is being implemented at the middle school level, and whether there is the possibility of it expanding into IHS. The student representatives appreciate the meeting that they had with Board member Dr. Adam Krantweiss several months ago, and hope that there will be continued discussions during curriculum committee meetings about the wisdom of such changes in grading practice.
Lastly, the Board of Education voted on February 13 to create an extra school holiday for IHS on March 14 as a caregiver conference day. Caregiver conferences have long been a way for elementary school teachers to meet the guardians of their students and work together to help them achieve their very best. The Board of Education hopes that similar benefits can be gained by expanding the practice to IHS.
The student representatives hope to continue to keep the school updated on their activities through The Tattler. Any thoughts about ongoing or potential projects/concerns can be sent to student representatives at their respective emails, which are listed below.
Lucine Barseghyan: lb30@icsd.k12.ny.us
Claire Park: cp14@icsd.k12.ny.us
Mukund Gaur: mg23@icsd.k12.ny.us
Caedmon Sethupathy: cs11@icsd.k12.ny.us