Our Voices, our Schools - April 2009

 
CBLThis month we feature Kelly Cousineau.  Kelly is a Junior from Sam Barlow High School in Gresham,OR.  She is involved in honors and Advanced Placement classes, is page editor for the Bruin Banner newspaper, is a member of the National Honors Society, Key Club, has been on Freshmen Class
Council, ASB Site Council, Junior Class Council, and LINK Crew. Chalk Talk met up with Kelly at the recent statewide Oregon Diploma Summit.

In your opinion what are the benefits of the new high school diploma requirements?
The new diploma holds higher expectations for students than they often hold for themselves. They are required to care more about their education in order to obtain their diploma and when they walk off that [graduation] stage, it will actually mean something to them.

What can Chalkboard do to inspire young people to advocate for making Oregon schools better?
Now, more than ever, it is necessary to have people willing to stand
up for education and demand higher expectations. I think that advocating support for lower/middle class families and higher education are worthy goals that will benefit future generations of Oregon.

I also think it's extremely important to get students involved in the planning process of education. Students should know
how much goes into the requirements set for them. If we want to create change we have to represent all levels of education, including the people most affected, students themselves. I'm currently working on creating a student-led program for middle/lower class income students that will offer financial aid, peer mentoring, peer academic advisement, career planning, and parent involvement, among other things.