Minutes04.04.18/Agenda04.11.18

Post date: May 2, 2018 1:23:11 PM

Agenda 04.11.18

• 1. Approval of the Minutes

  2. Reports

  3. Vision of a Graduate Discussion

  4. Notes and New Business

Council Minutes 04.04.18

“You’re mad. Bonkers. Off your head… but I’ll tell you a secret… all of the best people are.” -Lewis Carroll

1. Approval of Minutes

2. Reports

• • Mod: Naturalization ceremony happening next Thursday during school when people become American citizens. Most will be living in New Hampshire, 41 countries being represented. Seniors and freshman are able to go. Hopefully annual occurrence. Ms. Miller is looking for students to help escort people arriving to auditorium and come to afterparty. Recommend mostly seniors and freshman. Juniors and sophomores are welcome to come as well as escorts if interested. On Friday during Activity Period, there will be poster making session for posters in auditorium, representing each of the 41 countries with “Welcome” in native language. If interested, come to Ms. Miller’s room. Have been emailing RMS about Council elections; working on lining up election times as close as possible. OEC sent election schedule to Mr. Lacrosse.

  • Treasurer: Council fund = $6240.90. Co-curricular fund = $3789. Council fund will go down $300 after senior ice cream party on April 27th.

  • DSB: Interesting discussion about schedule changes for more long-term plan. More specifically, conversation on lunch period and late-start. Talk to DSB for more information.

  • PR: Please update each of Facebook class pages with election information and general Council information.

  • Secretary: No alternates can vote.

  • Admin: Discussed Staff of the Year and Skip Bean Democratic Award. Nomination email will be sent out soon.

  • Curric: Working on updating Handbook.

  • OEC: Nomination sheets will be available in Library and will also be distributed in Common Ground.

  • SAC: Talked with clubs about budget forms, which are due in a week.

  • SL: Trying to set up field trip for next Tuesday. Ms. Addante talking to committee about facilitation workshop.

3. X-Period Standardization Motion

I move to strike the third bullet point, “Students with a class average above 60% are to be permitted to leave the classroom for at least half of the class period, provided that they are caught up on all of their work.”

• • Should be allowed at teacher’s discretion.

  • Don’t have the right to tell a student what grades they should be getting as long as they are passing the class. If a student is satisfied with a 60, that is their right. When a teacher keeps a student in a classroom, it is not necessarily good. Times when student could be using time in different way that is more important. Allows students the opportunity to use X-periods in the most efficient way possible while giving an opportunity for students who should remain in class to use the class time.

  • Worry about putting numbers as the cut-off for whether a student should remain in class or not. Other circumstances would also call for student staying in class during X-period.

  • Worry about changing grade number up. By raising minimum grade required to leave for X-period, setting standard for what is okay for students to have as grade in class. Ideally, students will aim for grade that is higher for passing, but for X-periods, either should get rid of number or should not raise number higher than passing grade. If remove number, worry that teachers will keep entire class during X-period which bring us back to original problem.

  • Is more about culture of leaving class during X-period. Personally student feels that have left X-periods where they should have not left. Have seen peers leaving X-periods they should have not been permitted to leave. In classes where a regular X-period is given, many students who are not caught up but have minimum grade will leave for X-period.

  • Teachers should be able to decide what is a satisfactory grade for class. If student is not doing how teacher believes student should/could do, teacher should have right to keep student during X-period.

  • Many students go into X-periods ready to leave: have backpacks on, not sitting down in chairs, ready to check in with teacher and leave. If teacher keeps class for even 10 minutes at beginning of X-period, students will still have chance to get food, talk with other teachers, etc. Students are too focused on leaving classroom rather than getting anything out of X-period.

  • Wrong message that it is only important that student passes the class with minimum of 60.

  • Motion Passes

  • Unrealistic that every class has an X-period. For example, Calculus is a course that requires satisfaction of many requirements before AP test, which occurs in May.

  • Criticism of Council is that it may not be truly representative of students in school. Some classmates do not have same goals of those kinds of students that are on Council.

  • Motion Passes

  • Abstentions: Missed last week’s meeting and confused by language. Much larger problem than X-periods, problem with schedule. Does not make sense to give 20% of class week as X-period, as teacher would need to designate a day as X-period to not assign homework. Would make more sense to put in clause to say 20% of class week has to be used not for new information, but for enrichment, remediation, etc. Particularly does not make sense for classes that give 10 minutes at the end of each class period for questions-- means that every day is an X-period, which technically means students may not have homework everyday in that class, which does not make sense. Would like to see more specific wording on what no more additional work means. Wanted to hear math/science teacher speak, as only humanity teachers are on Council.

4. Vision of a Graduate Discussion

• • Notes will be taken to CPP. Encourage to read examples sent out. Difference between mission statement and vision of graduate. Mission statement is what happens between starting high school and graduating from high school. Vision of graduate is where student should be after the mission statement has been implemented. If teaching hearts, minds, voices, there should be some qualities in a student that is graduating.

  • Fearful of standardizing qualities in students. Should keep wording general so that the vision is not specific and unrealistic for most graduates.

  • HHS is legitimate democratic school, which makes us unique. Many discussions in Council have to do with democratic school. Maybe need to have discussion about what that is.

  • Many people in community have vision for school. Sometimes, does not carry out. Heart, minds, or voices doesn’t always end up the way we want it to be. Can find common qualities that would be liked in graduates, such as empathy, selflessness. Does not mean that all students have to be standardized-- wanting graduates to be good people. Some of these qualities are lost in such a competitive environment where there is not a focus on community.

  • Making committee for this in CPP. Became worrying when cCPP talked about getting admissions officer on committee. In Hanover, only minds is focused on from the mission statement. One goal is to make students become smart. Lose hearts and voices. Hard to think as Council student that we do not use our voices. Council represents small percentage of larger school. We need to reach out farther and think about students who have not been able to use voice while at Hanover, even though we encourage that type of behavior. Unclear where in curriculum students are encouraged to use hearts and voices. Curriculum should reflect mission statement, but only concerned with minds currently.

5. Meeting Adjourns