A Letter from the ReinventED Student Council

Hello,

We are the members of the 20-person ReinventED: Your Education, Your Voice Student Council! 

We will be leading a six-month process of using new technology to amplify diverse voices and views of students, families and educators to inform education policymaking. With the support of The GovLab at New York University and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we will be designing these online engagements, writing and editing the content and analyzing the results. Our goal is to learn from the real experts -- namely students, educators and families -- their expectations for their schools and how to meet them.

We are a group of students from across the United States ranging in age from 14-21. We come from 13 states, from public and private schools, from urban and rural areas and we wanted to introduce ourselves.

Amina Salahou, William Nottingham High school, New York

A pressing issue faced in education at this moment is the lack of inclusivity within history courses, causing them to be myopic.

Ashley Lin, Union High School, Washington

Education should unleash the full potential of students. However, schools are not preparing us with the skills we need to make sense of the world, much less gain agency to shape the future of ourselves/our communities.

Camara Stevenson, Burnsville High School, Minnesota

There many challenges that education is facing, but I believe some of the biggest ones are one style of learning and test-taking.

Claire Gerson, New York University, California

The education system should provide children with not just traditional academics but also psychosocial support.

Darren Dunn, Kennesaw State University, Georgia

In our fast-paced and constantly shifting society, education needs to provide students with a plethora of skills that will be a direct and an immediate asset in the real world.

Depa Saha, Bronx High School of Science, New York

In our educational system, BIPOC, female, and LGBTQ+ students are often overlooked as the framework is cis-gendered straight caucasian males.

Eleanor, Richard Montgomery High School, Maryland

A critical skill currently missing from school is civic education, especially the mechanics and importance of voting.

Gabbie Gonzáles, Piedra Vista High School, New Mexico

While education as a basic idea is inherently equipped to provide students with information and academic content on a curricular basis, it is that which public schooling has either failed or plainly neglected to address which a predominance of the institution's systemic issues can be attributed.

Isabella Ramjit, United Nations International School, New York

I think a class which should be added to all curriculum is a class which is a combination of health and home education.

Itunuoluwa Adejare, Longwood High School, New York

Education should be able to provide an unbiased understanding of racial justice and cultural movements.

Jimmy Rodgers, George Westinghouse College Prep, Illinois

I think education should show students the importance of independence, and I don't just mean doing work independently but the importance of being by yourself.

Jocelynn Dow, Freehold Township, New Jersey

Education should help uncover your best self and guide you to uncover your passions and how best to pursue them.

George Martinez, Bennett Day School, Illinois

Every student should have a growth mindset. Not only should school be a safe space for a student to make mistakes, but it should also be a space to improve from them.

Joshua Obas, Northeast Independent Preparatory Academy, Alabama

Education should provide students with the opportunity to learn and practice navigation.

Katrina Leslie, Texas A&M University- College Station, Texas

Some of the key challenges of education at this moment include the lack of non-competitive athletics, funding for music programs and an academic system that promotes memorization.

Malena Coan, Jefferson High School, Illinois

A major key challenge of education at this exact moment is the remote learning the COVID-19 pandemic has forced upon most, if not all, students.

Maya Muwanga, New York University Abu Dhabi, Colorado

Educational environments are where we first learn what it means to be community-members, what being a member of a society looks like.

Melody Chen, University of Southern California, Illinois

A Chinese proverb says, “failure is the father of success.” While we were often taught that it is acceptable to fail, seldom were we actually prepared when hit with the first taste of reality. I think that education should actually provide students with more experiences of failure so that they gain the crucial skills of emotional and intellectual resilience for adulthood.

Rachel Kim, Brown University, Georgia

When student loan debt is reaching an astonishing $1.6 trillion and the United States is in the midst of an economic recession, financial literacy has never been more important. 

Sofia Novoa, Boone High School, Florida

Beyond learning a core curriculum, students should develop the traits necessary to be lifelong learners and change-makers: intellectual curiosity and social consciousness.

Next month we will be launching a large-scale online engagement with students, educators and families to diagnose the challenges people have with their schools in order to identify ways to make schools more responsive to the needs of communities. If you want to hear more about Your Education, Your Voice and hear what we are learning, please email us at connie@youreducationyourvoice.org.