Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Public Comments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Emmaus students urge East Penn SD to expand service learning, STEM outreach and support for extracurriculars
Summary
Multiple Emmaus High students used the May 11 public-comment period to press the East Penn School District for mandatory or phased service-learning requirements, targeted outreach to increase female participation in Project Lead the Way, more inclusive classroom furniture, consistent pacing guides, and better funding for the dance team and gifted supports.
At the May 11 meeting of the East Penn School District Board of Directors, a succession of Emmaus High School students delivered public comments urging changes across academics, athletics and student supports.
Student leaders opened the public-comment period. Marisha Kade, vice president of the Student Government Association, outlined upcoming events and testing schedules and called attention to student logistics during Keystone testing. Ian Honescheid urged the board to consider implementing mandatory service hours phased in over multiple years or integrated as service-learning, saying his research showed 65% of students who volunteered reported the experience as valuable and recommending surveys and budgeting adjustments to address logistical hurdles.
Other presenters focused on specific gaps. Donna Gadella Cruz highlighted what she described as a stark gender imbalance in Project Lead the Way, saying only about 25% of PLTW participants were female and proposing targeted outreach — PLTW instructors and female students visiting middle schools and brief program explanations during ninth-grade parent nights — to boost awareness and enrollment. Benjamin Wilkes described ergonomic and inclusivity concerns with fixed desks, citing a student poll reporting more than 70% discomfort and urging phased replacement of desks that allow students to pull chairs back. Kira Arnold pressed for week-by-week pacing guides so students in the same course across different teachers receive comparable instruction in time for AP exams.
Students also raised equity and extracurricular access. Ava Perez asked the district to reclassify the nationally ranked Emmaus dance team from a club to a sport to improve funding, recognition and scholarship opportunities for its 26 members. Carson Mozell and Avery Berger urged expanded, better-publicized options for gifted students and standardized teacher collaboration through professional learning communities. Abigail Holtz called for mandatory, recurring consent education across grade levels to address underreporting of sexual assault and its impacts on student wellbeing. Other speakers recommended advisory programming to reduce student isolation and expansion of world-language offerings, including Mandarin.
The board did not take immediate formal action on the student proposals during the meeting. Several administrators and board members thanked the students for their research and presentations and acknowledged the topics as appropriate for follow-up with staff and committees; some items (for example, curriculum design and funding allocations) will be considered in future budget and curriculum planning meetings.
The public-comment block concluded with a community speaker urging restoration of capital funding and broader state funding solutions for the district.
