Schools in Royal Palm Beach joined together for a special activity Wednesday, May 24. Students and staff members from H.L. Johnson, Royal Palm Beach and Cypress Trails elementary schools and Crestwood Middle School met at Royal Palm Beach High School for the Royal Palm Beach K-12 Continuum Leadership Summit hosted by the RPBHS Student Council.
RPBHS Principal Jesus Armas was excited about an event that brought students together to brainstorm and work together.
“The principals of the five village schools believe that it is important for our students to be able to have an educational environment in the village where kids can come to us as kindergarteners and be able to matriculate through all the way to their senior year and graduate, and be able to have some kind of continuum where programs can be developed,” he said. “A student can find a passion for something and be able to stay in it and never have to leave the village to get that.”
The seamless transition from elementary to middle to high school is being called a “continuum,” where there is continuous learning.
“Our goal is to create as many of these K-12 continuum scenarios as we can in our schools in the village,” Armas said, noting that there are several continuum programs already in effect, such as Leadership, and science-based programs like STEM and SECME.
Leadership, commonly known as the student council, is what Wednesday’s event was all about.
“This leadership summit is a chance for our student council, an award-winning student council at the high school level, to begin to work with other student councils and just help,” Armas said. “We get ideas from them and they get ideas from us, and we develop this continuum of leadership.”
In September, Royal Palm Beach High School will be holding a SECME event.
Students went through many activities Wednesday, including discussions focusing on what makes a leader, how they act, what they say and how they think; how to address student concerns; what kind of fundraising activities can be utilized; and how to show school spirit.
Students were picked up from their schools, worked on introductions and sorting activities, and discussed what it means to be a leader and why it is important to be a leader. They also discussed what they have done in student council and swapped ideas about student concerns, school spirit, fundraising and more, RPBHS Student Council sponsor Shannon Makowski said.
The students came up with ideas such as showing appreciation to their teachers through anonymous letters, holding pep rallies, holding fundraisers for $1 to wear something other than their uniforms, celebrating student birthdays, holding end-of-the-year dances, creating personalized pencils and more.
“I’m hoping that it continues their interest in being in student council, and we start to streamline what it means to be in student council,” Makowski said. “When they enter as elementary school kids, by the time they get to high school, they know what the roles and responsibilities are and they’re still excited about doing it, and I’m hoping that it creates better leaders within the Village of Royal Palm Beach.”
Makowski has already seen the positive effects of the continuum and working with the other schools with the current eighth-graders.
“It’s an opportunity for us to create an educational setting in the village that promotes students staying in the village,” Armas said.
All of the students who participate in student council have to run for elected positions, Makowski explained. In elementary schools and middle schools, those elections take place in the beginning of the year. In high school, students run for the position the May before their term. If they do not win the election, there are two faculty-appointed positions available. A student must also meet grade, discipline and attendance standards. They write an essay, come in for an interview, are placed on a ballot and then can be voted in.
Royal Palm Beach Councilman Jeff Hmara, council liaison for the Education Advisory Board, was in attendance along with board members.
“We’re going to keep talking about it because it gets better and better as you develop it,” Hmara said. “This is important… It’s about providing a center of educational excellence right here in Royal Palm Beach so that kids and their families don’t feel compelled to reach outside.”
Keeping a central educational hub allows for simpler logistics for getting children to and from school, leads to less time on the road and makes it easier for children to participate in after-school extracurricular activities, Hmara explained.
“It’s better for the community all around,” he said. “We’ve got good schools. We’re looking to have great schools. This continuum program is great for that.”
The first thing people look at when deciding where to live, Hmara added, is the schools in the area.
The program is a win-win for everyone, Armas said, explaining that anytime teachers of all levels work together, it makes them better. For the community, the benefit is greater because as students graduate, they’ll want to return to their community.
ABOVE: RPBHS Student Council advisor Shannon Makowski works with a group during a brainstorming session.
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