According to Boothbay Region High School English teacher Mark Gorey, what's lost in the many debates surrounding the ways and means of operating a school district is an important voice, the student perspective.

“We are here to serve them,” said Gorey. “We are also here to make them feel empowered.”

With that spirit in mind, Gorey started the Champions of Change program through his advanced placement language class. The program is designed to allow students to advocate for policy change through a subject or cause they feel passionate about.

“It's about being persuasive through writing and speaking,” said Gorey. “They present their views to the (AOS 98) school board who have the power to enact changes directly.”

To successfully complete the program, students must interview administrators and conduct surveys of students in the building. The project requires both a written and visual component done through a short iMovie. The results are published electronically via seahawkscript.wordpress.com, a student-run website.

The topics are entirely student-generated and can prove polarizing; last year a student proposed enacting a school dress code, an idea which caused a minor firestorm on social media, said Gorey. Other topics have included a later start time to the school day and a greater emphasis on the humanities through a philosophy class.

“The student was arguing that Boothbay was becoming largely a STEM school,” said Gorey. “We also had a student try to resurrect a school golf team, citing Missy Williams, a former student, who played on the LPGA tour as precedent and the importance of having a team.”

The students are not afraid to take on very complex issues such as standard-based grading. BRHS student Nicole Clark presented her research and argued that standard-based grading can be a disincentive to student motivation.

“While it might lift the boat, so to speak, of people who are perennially not meeting the standard, what does it do for the high achieving student? Will they get to three (the minimally mandated score) and call it good?” said Gorey.

For BRHS senior Gretchen Elder, her experience in the program was instructive and eye-opening.

“I liked participating; it really made me think about issues in our school and that I could make a difference,” said Elder. “I learned about how rules come about and how they can be changed.”

The end game for Champions of Change is to have a real world audience and potentially enact the change the individual’s research supports. Despite presenting the students’ ideas directly to the AOS school committee, Gorey said he was disappointed to see the lack of conversation generated among the board members.

“It would be more helpful if they would ask questions of the students,” he said. “The end goal is to have a real world audience. Their thoughts are valid as young adults. These people are going to become leaders.”

Click on the link here to view the Champions of Change videos