ADAMS, Mass. — For the last three years, Hoosac Valley High School has encouraged students to take part in shaping their school community through its Student Adult Advisory Board. 

 

The board has become popular among students, with approximately 70 members currently enrolled and a waiting list of others eager to join — the largest it has ever been, said Jaclyn Ricci, history teacher. 

 

"It gives us such a voice in the school, and I just think it's something every school should have because it really just brings all of us together, our whole student body as one, and helps us be more comfortable with each other," senior Rylin Larabee said. 

 

Students highlighted how the initiative allows them to work alongside school administrators and other adults to implement policies and advance programming, from bringing back the peer mentorship program and planning enrichment activities based on the student body's needs to advancing multi-year plans for outdoor classrooms and planning school celebrations and pep rallies. 

 

"I feel like it brought me closer to a lot of the advisers that we work with, and the teachers in the building, and just being able to communicate with them and explain, like student to teacher, how both of us are feeling about different roles that we have in our school," senior Leyah Brown said. 

 

Senior Preston Hnatonko said the Student Adult Advisory Board (SAAB) operates similarly to government in that it gives students firsthand experience in developing policies. They can then carry that experience beyond graduation and advocate for change and influence public policy as adults.

 

As an environmentalist, Hnatonko said one of the biggest things the program has done is teach him how to write legislation for the causes he believes in.