Student leaders from Bryan middle schools and high schools are taking on a title of ambassador in a new student group in the Bryan school district.
The more than 150 students representing the six secondary campuses in the Bryan school district gathered on Monday for an Essential Ambassadors leadership training camp at the Boys and Girls Club of the Brazos Valley’s new building.
Brian Merrell, executive director of school leadership in the district, said the process of forming the group began a few months ago, as district leaders looked at how to best improve the climate and culture on the district’s campuses.
The ambassadors, who include both middle schools and all four high schools in the district, were nominated by administrators and leaders on their campuses to take part, he said. They will work with district administrators to discuss the good and the bad on their campuses.
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Nick Harris, a Gear Up outreach specialist in the district and Essential Ambassador facilitator from SFA Middle School, said the initiative has a focus on creating change by involving students who want to be part of the process.
“We can’t do it on our own. We need student buy-in; we need their support,” Harris said. “And so if we can get the people here to help us even when we’re not present, then it allows for a positive domino effect.”
One of the key components of the group, Harris and Merrell said, is that the students do not represent just one type of student.
Harris said the goal was to have a diverse group of students that includes the students who make all A’s and get to class on time, and those who get in trouble at school and all students in between.
“That’s the only way we’re going to have a diverse group of students at the table to provide feedback on what’s going on, the good and the bad, and how can we improve our schools altogether,” he said.
Merrell said the goal is for the student representatives to move together as leaders, working together with older and younger students from different backgrounds.
Roderick World Harris Jr., known by some students as “Coach Ghost,” called Monday a beautiful event, which was a partnership between the school district and the Boys and Girls Club of the Brazos Valley, because of what it can lead to.
“I think that these kids are going to change the trajectory,” the local Boys and Girls Club’s athletic director and program director said. “If you look in this room, this is what Bryan ISD looks like. This is what Bryan looks like now. There’s different walks; some kids are tall, some people are small, all different shades of color, different languages being spoken, and they’re bringing these kids together. … This is exactly what we need.”
Bryan Superintendent Ginger Carrabine said during a May interview with The Eagle that some of the students nominated might not be the typical campus leaders, but they have the potential to be leaders and influencers on their campus.
The initiative took off when Carrabine, Merrell, Nick Harris and other facilitators took a group of about 80 students to a leadership conference in Katy, Merrell said. Monday’s leadership training camp was part of the discussion of how they can harness the motivation and momentum the group had when they returned to Bryan.
Nick Harris said he enjoyed getting to hear the students provide “thoughtful and insightful perspectives” about their campuses.
He said his goal is for the Essential Ambassadors to speak up and provide feedback, but said it is also up to the adults in the school district to listen to the students and work toward addressing any concerns they mention.
Carrabine said she hopes the group can carry forward their current momentum and help combat the learning and opportunity loss caused by the pandemic.
“We need more than ever this culture, this climate, this student engagement and these opportunities,” she said. “And we know that our students have actually probably more influence than the adults do, so we’re tapping our influencers to do the work that we need to do to do just amazing things in Bryan ISD.”
In May, after her first full month as superintendent, Carrabine said, “If you think about student leaders on a campus choosing to add value to their school in the name of a positive culture and doing great things to brand your schools with all the positivity needed; if you get student movement, then there’s no stopping them.”
Most of Monday’s all-day camp was spent doing teambuilding activities that encouraged the students to get to know each other, communicate with each other and work together to accomplish the goal.
Kaylah Boatcallie, a seventh graders from SFA Middle School, said she was surprised to see how many games they played, and said she thinks the skills they are developing will be helpful as she continues in school and throughout her life.
She said she hopes students’ involvement in the group will help the campus culture, saying there are more fights at her school than she would like to see.
“It’ll help because kids are actually involved, and it’s their classmates that are doing it, so they’re putting in the changes,” she said. “… This is going to help our school and our district and all the kids in Bryan ISD.”
Sophie Martinez, an eighth grader at Davila Middle School, said she liked getting to connect and work with other students from her school who she does not interact with regularly and said she thinks the activities will help motivate other students to be kind to each other.
Eli Bachmeyer, a freshman at Bryan High School, said he is looking forward to doing more and said the skills he is learning will help him have a better sense of engagement on campus.
As the students worked to complete their tasks, Merrell said, there was some conflict, but that was by design. The tension ranged from having to deal with an idea not working to discussing what happened when something goes wrong.
“Those things happen every day in the classroom,” he said. “They’re happening in the halls. They’re happening all over, but if we don’t take the kids and teach them how to do it, then how can we expect them to model it back in the building.”