Principal/ student advisory group meets

The first meeting of the Wapakoneta High School’s Principal/ Student Advisory Committee was held Thursday in the large group room. The committee, made up of 27 students from each grade and from different cultural/ social groups, was formed in response to problems arising from social media issues earlier in the year. Members were chosen following conversations between the administrative staff and teachers.

The reason the committee took so long to form was simple.

"We didn't want to rush this, we wanted to do it to the best of our ability," said Scott Minnig, high school principal. “Once we were able to narrow that down and ask the kids if they were willing to participate... every kid that I asked was excited to be a part of that group."

So before students met, and in conjunction with the Gatekeepers organization, Minnig and his team developed a slogan to: respectfully embrace differ

ences, speak kindly and purposefully, and to educate yourself on cultural uniqueness today, tomorrow and always ( or RESPECT).

After participating in activities to introduce themselves to peers they might not have otherwise known, the members listened to a presentation delivered by guest speaker Lucy Flowers of Wright State. Flowers is director of SchoolBased Prevention Programs and Services at

PASS ( Prevention Awareness Support Services). Flowers' presentation was about developing allyship.

"That training led to some very good conversations amongst our students that are taking place in our building that they see," Minnig said.

Following that, the 27 students were separated into six groups, each tasked with identifying what they saw as the biggest issue within the