Student reps report to board members

RITZVILLE – Two students were selected as student representatives to present information on current high school activities to school board members at their monthly meetings.

High school principal Kevin Terris reported that since student representatives were usually elected in the spring, this year staff and administration chose students who had been involved in leadership positions in the past.

Senior student representative Jordyn Fode reported at the Sept. 23 board meeting she thought orientation week “went pretty well.”

“I saw a bunch of teachers that I have not seen in a long time, and it was nice to see other kids our age,” Fode said, before reporting on pros and cons of this school year’s distance learning.

Fode said one advantage was having more time to focus on assignments in subjects that students struggle with, rather than “spending more time in subjects that we’re already good at.”

“Another pro is that our teachers check in, so they’re making sure we’re caught up; or if we’re getting too far ahead they let us know and tell us to catch up on other classes,” Fode said.

Fode said one “con” was that the schedule “doesn’t really line up for kids that have to go to work.” She said it wasn’t always clear when assignments were due, and students have less social interaction with kids their age.

“Some positives are, I know there are some groups of students getting together and studying and working on assignments together,” Fode said.

Amy Anderson, a junior from Lind whose mother Jennifer teaches third grade at Lind Elementary School, was also selected as a student representative.

Anderson reported orientation helped students learn how to navigate and use Edgenuity.

“We watched informational videos on that,” Anderson said. “They had characters that showed us how to deal with emotions that we might be experiencing in the current situation. I think that that part of it helped relieve stress of a lot of students.”

Anderson said during the first week of school, students received their work through Google Classroom.

“The amount of work was pretty reasonable. But it might have been more difficult for the students with jobs,” Anderson said, adding she has a job, and was able to finish all of her work for the week.

“One thing that I, and other students are struggling with, is that we have to adjust to the new teaching ways on Edgenuity, and we’re used to being taught by the teachers at the high school, so it’s a big change,” Anderson said. “But something that helps is some of the teachers have been doing their own lectures through Google Meet as an alternative to the Edgenuity instructions, and I know that a lot of the students would prefer that way because it’s a lot easier to learn from a discussion than from a video.”

Anderson said it was particularly difficult for freshmen, “who don’t even know what the teachers at the high school are like.”

Anderson said she learned the Link Crew has been putting freshmen in groups, and they had orientation activities to help them get to know each other.

“And the Link Crew has been sending out group texts to make sure the freshmen are doing okay, and that the start of school is going well for them,” Anderson said.

Both student representatives reported school clubs were starting to meet, and FFA, FCLA and FBLA would be doing virtual competitions this year.

Ritzville School Board Director Marci Miller said this is the third year student representatives have been in place.

“We love hearing from them every month, it’s a great part of our board meetings,” Miller said.

Representatives Anderson and Fode will be submitting high school news to the Journal monthly.