HOT school student senate

HOT Schools promotes students as leaders and decision-makers. HOT Schools believes that democracy and the arts are inextricably linked. Both fundamentally involve expression. Both demand active participation in the social sphere. By demonstrating to students that they can communicate powerfully through words, images, movements, and sounds, we enhance their sense of social efficacy. HOT Schools feature strong student governments where students articulate their needs in compelling language to address real issues that bear importance in their lives and in the lives of their peers.

The HOT Schools Program convenes student representatives and student senate facilitators from each HOT School to share information and develop a statewide approach to implementing HOT school student senate and other leadership opportunities for students.

Student Senators representing 20 HOT Schools developed a process and guidelines for creating a constitution and addressing issues and ideas in their schools.

Examples of Student Senate Work

Student senate representatives who were working with a theater artist in a social studies class decided it would be effective to address recurrent bullying issues at recess and on buses, through theater. They were guided through the process for gaining permission to do so. They worked with the school psychologist, social worker, and theatre artist to develop solutions to the bullying issues. The final results of their work were performed for the entire student and invited community body at Town Meeting.

In another school, senators, frustrated by the quality of school lunches, tackled the issue of making a salad bar available for students and staff each day. They surveyed staff and students to determine interest and potential use of a salad bar, dressing choices, side choices, etc., and presented their results to school lunch servers and the director of food services. The process took nearly the entire school year but students who researched and documented support for their cause remained committed to seeing the issue through. That school, eight years later, still enjoys a salad bar as a daily lunch choice.

Student Senate Decision Making Process

They present their proposals to each classroom in the school.
The classrooms give feedback to their Student Senate representives.
Representatives share feedback from their class with the whole Student Senate.
The Student Senate talks about and finalizes the proposals.
The principal is invited to attend the Student Senate meeting.
The Senators present the beliefs to the principal.
The principal discusses each proposal, asks questions, and then decides whether to approve or veto them.
Once approved by the principal, Senators share the final document with each class.

Every student in the school or classroom signs the document.
The document is posted in a public place.

The Senators will work with their adult facilitator to decide what steps they have to take to make things work.
The Senators follow those steps.

HOT Schools Quote

"Collecting goods or contributing to other service organizations is certainly a worthy endeavor supported by HOT Schools, but the work of a student senate in a HOT school goes deeper. It centers more on issues and topics that are relevant to and raised by the students. HOT Schools leadership focuses on developing student awareness and understandings that would propel students to, say - identify a need and create a service organization (or way to address it) rather than or in addition to responding to an existing one."

HOT school student senate

Examples of Student Senate Work

Student Senate Decision Making Process

HOT Schools Quote

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