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Highland View students present new Student Leadership Team to Greendale board
Summary
Fifth graders from Highland View described a 33-member Student Leadership Team that formed to add student voice to climate data, lead schoolwide activities and volunteer drives aimed at improving belonging and character education.
Highland View teachers and students told the Greendale School Board that a newly formed Student Leadership Team is already running schoolwide projects designed to strengthen belonging and character education.
Staff member Speaker 3 said the team was created after the school reviewed its Belonging Climate Survey and concluded adult review of the data lacked direct student voice. "We put our data numbers in front of the students and we came up with our own inferences," Speaker 3 said, explaining the team's purpose: to develop leadership skills, promote teamwork and help all students feel they belong.
Senora Bradley described the selection process: students applied with a teacher recommendation and parent signature, served during lunch or recess every other week, and all applicants were accepted; Bradley said 33 students are currently serving. Student leaders listed three focus areas this year—respect, following school rules and belonging—and outlined concrete activities tied to those goals.
Multiple fifth-grade representatives spoke to the board. "Being on the student leadership team means a lot to me knowing that I can make a difference in my school," said Macy g. Other students described organizing volunteer drives, creating classroom presentations about emotions, and developing inclusion exercises. One student described an empathy drive to a local animal shelter and said the team collected cat and dog food, toys and made posters and announcements over the PA.
Students also described curricular and outreach efforts: a belonging group producing slides and emotion-corner activities for younger grades; a book group preparing read-alouds (titles named by students included I Am Human and The World Is Waiting for You) with follow-up activities; and a character-education team building a Kahoot quiz to teach character traits such as perseverance and honesty.
A board member praised the students' courage for presenting and pointed to prior student leadership on a Highland View soccer-field issue as evidence of ongoing student engagement. The board acknowledged the students' volunteer work and community impact and applauded their presentations.
The board moved on to other agenda items after thanking the students; no formal board action was requested or taken on the presentation.
The Student Leadership Team's next steps are classroom visits and implementing the activities they described; staff said they will continue using student feedback as part of school-improvement work.
