SAD 58 board has its annual dialogue with students
SALEM – It’s rare to find a room brimming with 60-plus high school students shrouded in silence, even if they are in a library.
But that’s exactly what SAD 58 board Chairman Mike Pond of Strong saw and heard when he looked across the room lined with books, jeans and cautious, unflinching faces last Tuesday.
“So, I guess everything is perfect here at Mount Abram?” he asked after a few pregnant moments, tentatively optimistic.
“Let’s not go that far,” one student in the crowd said under his breath to a classmate.
From then on, the dialogue between students and SAD 58 board members at what the district has dubbed “the annual town meeting” flowed like the Carrabassett River in the springtime.
The annual March meeting gives students a chance to have a direct connection to the school board that oversees their education, said government teacher Barry London.
At the start of the meeting, he encouraged students to speak on behalf of themselves, and not their peers. And most importantly, he urged them to take their peeves a step further by offering realistic solutions.
This is at least the 10th year of the meeting, and the discussion each year is a reflection on the times, and the state of education.
Of course, some grievances, like the stench in the boys’ bathroom or the hot lunch program’s lack of appeal, bubble up annually.
One student suggested Glade Plug-Ins as a solution to the former problem. As for the latter one, Superintendent Quenten Clark said increased federal and state mandates mean that “all sorts of nutritional requirements have to be squeezed into that tray.”
While it was those short exchanges that garnered the most laughs, a question about whether students wanted laptop computers turned into a full-fledged heated debate that even got Pond fired up.
Several students are working with Angel Allen, district technology coordinator, to bring laptops to all Mount Abram students. Allen said that it would cost students about $100 per year payable over four years and in the end, the laptops would be theirs to keep.
Students who weren’t interested in purchasing would still have access to laptops in school, but wouldn’t be able to take them home.
Student Mike Sweeney of Kingfield stood up for the plan, noting that the world is becoming more reliant on computers and that the school is the best place to learn the technology and how to use it.
Some students spoke against getting laptops, highlighting a long list of potential problems such as cost, hackers and the technology becoming outdated. Others suggested that because the district is so rural, there is no use for the personal computers.
“The rest of the world is gearing up for it, and you’re gearing against it,” Pond said. He added that Mount Abram students need it especially because they don’t have access to the resources available to students in more populated, developed areas. Plus, he added, “It would be pretty cool.”
While no decision was made on laptops, the meeting gave the board a chance to hear the often-overlooked opinions of a key group when it comes to education: the students.
Meanwhile, students walked away with a sense of accomplishment, and a tinge of pride.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said senior Chelsea Comeau of Carrabassett Valley. “It feels like we are actually doing something instead of just complaining. We are talking to the people who matter.”
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