Students are focus of Hodgdon group

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
MEETING OF THE MINDS — The Hodgdon High School Student Focus Group for Change meets once a month with administrators to discuss issues students would like to see corrected. Taking part in last month’s meeting are, from left, students Josh Hudson, Matthew Sloat, Donald Scott, Andrew Kervin and Courtney Jurson; Director of Guidance Bernadette Willette; SAD 70 Board Chairman Estela Lane; and Superintendent Bob McDaniel.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HODGDON — Who is better to address issues facing Hodgdon High School than the students themselves?
    That is philosophy behind SAD 70s “Student Focus Group for Change,” a group comprised of high school students who meet with administrators once a month for a workshop session.
    According to Bernadette Willette, guidance director for SAD 70, the focus group has been in existence for about five years.
    “The concept for a student focus group originated from David Cassidy, who was a member of the SAD 70 school board at the time,” explained Estela Lane, current SAD 70 chairman. “Unfortunately, where he worked, he wasn’t able to come to the meeting. Instead Joel (Oliver) and myself were selected to be the board representatives.
    “I appreciate having the experience of being on the Focus Group for Change because I love having a say in what is changed about Hodgdon High School,” said Courtney Jurson, a sophomore at Hodgdon High School.
    Other members of the focus group include Dylan Campbell, Matthew Faulkner, Maya Gardiner, Josh Hudson, Andrew Kervin, Dillon Meserve, Donald Scott, Matthew Sloat, Jamiee Theriault, Jessi Tracy and MacKenzie York.
    Every month, the student focus group, which is comprised of 12 students (three from each high school grade level), meets with administrators and school board members to discuss any issues that have come up in the school. Ideas are brought to the focus group after the students consult with their peers on things they would like to see changed in the school.
    “At our very first meeting, we (the administration) were the ones listening to the kids,” Lane said. “We asked them to tell us what was good about the school and what wasn’t so good. Then we could go from that point.”
    Some of the past items that were rectified after being brought forward by the focus group were renovations to the girls and boys locker rooms; replacing mirrors in the girls’ bathrooms; replacing ceiling tiles in the high school gymnasium that regularly peeled or fell out; and the creation of a climbing wall in the gym.
    “The school lunch program was another big one,” Lane said. “The kids did a whole survey on ways to make it better. We are still working on ways to improve that.”
    Another item that has yet to come to fruition, but has been in the works for some time, is the creation of a school garden.
    Students are chosen for the focus group based on recommendations from their advisory teacher. Once a student is chosen, he/she remains with the group until graduation, or they decide they no longer wish to participate.
    “It’s not just the elite students,” said SAD 70 Superintendent Bob McDaniel. “We wanted to get representation from all groups in the school.”