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High school students present youth risk and resiliency findings, ask school board for retreat to plan responses
Summary
Student teams from Roswell High and Goddard High presented youth risk and resiliency data to the Roswell Independent School District board and requested a retreat so students and board members can develop collaborative responses to mental health, substance use and social‑media concerns.
Student leaders from Goddard High and Roswell High presented results from the New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey and asked the Roswell Independent School District board to join a retreat where students would present their findings in depth and collaborate on solutions.
Haley Bates, Abby Gil Palma and Sydney Miller of the Goddard team described meetings held since September 2024 to review survey data and said the work identified areas of concern including mental and emotional health, substance use, suicide awareness and prevention, and social influences such as social media.
Natalie Lopez, student body vice president at Roswell High, and Joaquin Belanios (Roswell High student leader) described the RAPS (Risk Assessment Project for Students) program run in collaboration with the University of New Mexico. Adelomari Vasquez, another student presenter, explained that RAPS trains students to analyze Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey data, leads data literacy exercises and suggests youth‑led interventions.
Students proposed specific, student‑driven ideas including an RHS sober‑celebration block party supported by local businesses, a Cayo Pass appointment/scheduling feature built into the school platform to connect students with counseling, and open‑gym weekend events to provide safe, supervised activity space for youth who cannot otherwise afford organized sports. Student presenters said the public dialogue event they hosted showed many adults underestimate the scale and character of the issues facing students.
Board members and administrators praised the presentations. Several board members urged scheduling a half‑day or full‑day retreat so students could present in more depth and the board could provide feedback and direction. Superintendent Luck said staff would work on scheduling; at the end of the night she said the district would circulate possible dates for a special meeting or retreat.
There was no formal vote; the outcome was direction to staff to organize a retreat where students and board members could review the data and discuss follow‑up actions such as community engagement events and possible pilot programs.
The student teams said they had already engaged local partners and requested board participation so the district and community could act on student recommendations.
