Our Student Advisory Council (SAC) was “honored for excellence” by the Chicago Public School Board for all the work they have done this past year on bringing more resources to neighborhood schools.
Our Senior Program Director, Steven, introduced the council at the CPS board meeting and thanked Dr. Jackson (CPS CEdO), Eva Giglio, Cristina Salgado, and Jessica Marshall for their partnership and support of the Student Advisory Council. He spoke about how the council aligns with Dr. Jackson’s vision for CPS to promote student voice and leadership. (If you are interested in seeing Dr. Jackson’s CPS Vision here’s the link).
Pedro Garcia, one of the council youth leaders and a senior from Roosevelt High School, spoke about the councils work on how neighborhood high schools can engage their communities. He also talked about how as a student activist, programs like SAC allow young people to have a hand in informing policy. He shared that having the access and relationship with Dr. Jackson has been one of his favorite parts of being in the council but then quickly added how attending Obama’s Farewell Speech and meeting his idol Bill Nye was pretty amazing too!
Dr. Jackson closed out by talking about how much the council meant to her and how even with their light heartedness and smiles, they are hard workers and have pushed barriers to inspire her to see the importance of neighborhood schools.