This evening I hesitantly attended my first School Council meeting at Richmond Green Secondary School, where my son is currently attending grade 9. My reluctance is sourced from an unknown level of commitment as a member of the council. However, tonight I was in an exploratory mood.
I was really impressed on the first day of school when almost all levels of the York Regional District School Board from the superintendent, trustee, and the administrative staff of the school were all in attendance to give a united, warm welcome to both new students and parents. The school continues to exceed my expectations with very informative weekly news letters sent via email to registered parents with email addresses.
One of these news letters mentioned a School Council meeting, and I recall a short conversation I had with Carol Chan, our school trustee. She encouraged us to participate and stay involved. One way of establishing better parent, board, and student communication is to be involved with the Student Council.
Suspecting that my son, belonging to a generation of young adults who will face very challenging times ahead, I wanted to explore and see what this open and accepting council can offer as opportunities for me to contribute in any way. Tonight’s meeting was largely filled with parents whose children are in grade 9 or 10 and there was one parent who has a child in grade 12. The principal and two vice-principals were all very friendly and facilitated the meeting. The meeting was largely introductory, and I look forward to our next meeting as more information will be shared. Certainly an hour a month is not too much to ask of a parent to stay involved.