The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Carri C. during the 2007-2008 League.
Napoleon School Board Meeting
A friend of ours is on the Napoleon School Board. He told us that a meeting was coming up, so we decided to go.
When we walked in, we were handed a Meeting Agenda and a District Annual Budget Report. There were two sets of tables, the tables at the front facing the audience were for the School Board, and the tables off to the side were for the school administrators.
As most meetings do, this one started with the Pledge of Allegiance. They then proceeded to discuss some issues in which students and teachers participated.
One example of an issue was the school's decision on where graduation was to be held. It would either be at the Napoleon School or at the Jackson Community College Potter Center. Two students came to speak against it being held at the Potter Center. They told the Board that all their memories were at the school, not at the Potter Center. And that even though it was very hot in the gym, it was worth it to have graduation where the memories had been made. Then a teacher got up to say that those who wanted to graduate at the school could, and the others could graduate at the Potter Center, each on a different date. The Board said that they would discuss it, and I just heard recently that the graduation ended up being at Napoleon School.
A few other issues were discussed, such as Wiltec Technologies' Annual Maintenance Check and some old and new contract agreements. On these pieces, motions were made and sometimes carried.
After this, a Technology Report and the District Annual Report were given by Miss Jassik and Mr. Graham. They discussed the issues they had been having and how they had been fixed, and gave ideas of how to fix issues that they were still having.
When all of this was done, the President of the Board gave the date and time of the next meeting. He thanked everyone for coming and the meeting was adjourned.
It was extremely interesting to watch this meeting. I really learned a lot. In a way, it was very close to what the state representatives do. I was actually really surprised at that, because I thought it would be a really laid back sort of meeting, and they would just discuss it, decide, and be done. Instead it was actually very professional and businesslike. This was a really good experience.
