The 2024-25 Richmond County Student Advisory Council members were recognized on Tuesday night at a board of education meeting giving board members an opportunity to familiarize themselves with this year’s student leadership.
This council is made up of middle and high school students who meet six times during the school year with district leaders to discuss issues that affect students throughout the Richmond County School System.
Members of the council are required to attend meetings, actively participate in discussions, maintain good academic standing, and show good character throughout the school year.
High school students include A’myah Green-Ayers from A.R. Johnson, Destiny Fox from Academy of Richmond County, Amari Jeffers from Butler High, Aisha Brunson from Cross Creek, Marshall Frost from Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, Ka’Sean Donald from Glenn Hills, Rhianna Waltower from Hephzibah High, Za’niyah Whitehead from T.W. Josey, Chase Bush from Lucy C. Laney, Y’Keysha Jenkins from Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School and Taylor Murray from Westside High.
Middle school students include Kaylee Nguyen from A.R. Johnson, Julian Wayne from Belair Middle, Eloise Tabb from Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, Kairi Jones from Freedom Park School, Kysha Munoz from Glen Hills Middle, Jada Salmond from Hephzibah Middle, Tonisha McGowan from W.S. Hornsby Middle, Zoey Boucher from Murphey Middle, Zaynah Tate from Pine Hill Middle, Jordan Byrd from Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School, Isabella Morris from Richmond Hill Middle and Nazarrien Jones from Tutt Middle.
A full report of the Student Advisory Councils findings and solutions regarding districtwide issues will be available in early 2025.
Opening doors
A’myah Green-Ayers is a student from A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet School who was a Student Advisory Council member throughout her sophomore year and is continuing in the role in her junior year.
The 11th grader said she loves discussing issues in Richmond County schools and workshopping improvements and changes with her fellow students. “We do a lot of things I think are very fruitful for large communities of students,” she said.
“I feel that this has opened a lot of doors for me,” added Green-Ayers, who said that she has been able to work with Cognia – an Alpharetta-based organization dedicated to school improvement – because of her time with the student advisory.
State Advisory Council
Two additional students were recognized on Tuesday for being chosen to be members of Georgia State Superintendent Richard Wood’s Student Advisory Council.
These students are Deven Person, a Sophomore from A.R. Johnson, and Michael Blanchard, a Junior from the Academy of Richmond County.
State School Superintendent Richard Woods has selected 75 Georgia students from 1,550 applicants to serve on this council; throughout the year, these students will meet with Woods to provide feedback on the impact of the state policies in the classroom.
In a statement on the Georgia Department of Education Website, Woods said: “We want to hear from students about what’s working, what’s not, and what we can do to make our schools better places to learn.”
Person and Blanchard will have the opportunity to discuss school issues at the state level in Atlanta in Jan., March and April. Another meeting which has already passed was held on Nov. 14.
