CHESTERMERE – In the hopes encouraging school spirit, student leadership and an overall better connection between students at Chestermere high, a group of teachers have formed a Studnet Parliament.
CHS social studies teacher Shannan Storey said that there was some talk of putting the group together last year, and that she is happy to see that it came together.
“We used to have a group called Students for Change that focused on volunteering, and it lost momentum and support,” Story said. “So we thought about it and decided that we were really lacking communication between all the groups in the school.
“You have your athletes here, and your music there, and your fine arts somewhere else. They just weren’t really connecting, so maybe with this they will.”
Storey said that Student Parliament might be a good way to bring students together, as well as turn over a real leadership role to students.
“It’s about school spirit and student leadership for sure, but it’s also going to be a good way to connecting everyone and maybe form a student voice,” she said. “In a lot of ways it will be serious but it will be fun too, and it will provide students with a connection to the community.
“We want to have a more visible role in the community. We’re sure how that will be yet but we’ll work it out as we go along.”
Leading the Student Parliament will be CHS’s new “prime minister”, Grade 12 student Michael Chang. Chang fought a campaign for a week against three other candidates: Amardeep Shergill, Andrew Mai, and Shahed Bayesteh.
“They all did a good job in terms of saying what they hoped to achieve for the process, and Michael came on top,” Storey said. “We will have a more few key roles to fill, but student who came forward and wants to be a part of it it will be included no matter what.
“Not everyone will have a specific role, but they will all be members and can lend a hand when needed.”
Storey said that the group of around 20 students will meet every Tuesday during the lunch hour.
The school’s “PM” said that he is fascinated by politics, so when the opportunity arose, he was immediately interested.
“Of course there was deliberation as to whether I should do it or not, but after a lot of people came up and said to me “Youshould do it! You’d be a great Prime Minister!” I thought “Hey, why not?”,” Chang said. “I felt I had a lot of support even before I started campaigning.”
Chang said that he started his campaign early, as was effective in getting the word out about him being a candidate. During the school’s annual welcome back Stampede breakfast, he and his friends went around telling people that I was running for the position of school PM.
“I asked what they would like to see changed around their school,” he said. “My slogan was ‘Chang for Change’ and I advocated that I could bring the change that the students want to see not only in their school, but in their community as well.”
Story said that she thinks the students will be able to be effective in making changes if they really put their minds to it.
“Some have concerns, it spans from everything from parking to schedules and timetables,” she said. “Other are a little more environmentally conscious so they might want to make some changes are the school that way.
“Some things will be serious, others will be fun.”
Chang said that he wants to change certain things in the school and in the community for the better.
“I’ve already been discussing the possibility of having a structured recycling program within Chestermere High to make our school more environmentally friendly,” he said. “I’m eager to work with the Town of Chestermere to see what the students can do for the community, and what the community can do for the students on topics such as recreational facilities and programs.”
Chang said he thinks that Student Parliament will give the student body the opportunity to have a voice on subjects that will affect them.
“It will give members of student parliament the chance to be the change they want to see around their school,” he said. “We as a team want to bring change that benefits everyone.”
