The 2023–2024 school year Student Advisory Panel (SAP) actively works to help both West Morris Mendham and Central High School students have the best experiences possible throughout their experiences in the West Morris Regional School District. The panel consists of about eight to ten students per school, who were chosen by principals Mr. Ryan and Mr. Rymer after an initial application process. These students discuss school issues and achievements with the principals and superintendent, Dr. Sargent.
Although the West Morris Student Advisory Panel is not entirely new, there have been a few changes to its organization. According to the panel, while Mr. Ben-David also held a similar panel for students and principals alike, this previous panel only met one to two times per year. Dr. Sargent hopes to increase the productivity of the panel by meeting with students at least four to five times throughout this school year. She explains that while working at another district, her panel there found success at adapting school policies to students’ needs on several occasions. Among these changes included eliminating midterm exams for students as well as a “Senior Open Campus” privilege, which allowed senior students to leave campus during their lunch period. After reading about these numerous successes, it is likely that Mendham may see similar results from the West Morris SAP.
This year, the panel has already discussed many important policies and aspects of the student experience in the West Morris district. Included in these meetings was a conversation with Pomptonian about healthier lunches offered in the cafeteria, a forum to provide feedback about the new cell phone policies, and a discussion about the effectiveness of “Homework- Free Weekends,” according to Dr. Sargent’s Student Advisory Panel Overview.
While the panel is limited to a few students, they have been chosen to represent the diversity and complexity of the students who make up Mendham and Central schools. The students selected for these positions have many varying experiences in, “…academics, extracurricular activities, and leadership,” according to the panel outline. These individuals are also in different grade levels, so the underclassmen are heard in addition to the upperclassmen.
Among those on the panel is Mendham Senior Samairaa Mehra. In an interview with Samairaa, she said that the panel is, “a really great way to reach out to administration and talk about school issues.” Additionally, she added that she was able to get in better contact with Central about some difficulties and potential solutions of which she was unaware. Mehra credits Dr. Sargent for the effectiveness of the panel, and reported that “Dr. Sargent always sends out meeting notes to tell the panel how she is working with administration to implement the panel’s plans,” providing many examples such as improving access to higher level Chinese classes at West Morris Central because many students currently take the language virtually with West Morris Mendham students.
Upon asking Mehra about the Student Advisory Panel’s discussion with Pomptonian relating to healthier lunch options, she asserted this is difficult to execute as the company must adhere to a budget while providing cost effective meals to both West Morris Regional schools. However, “[Pomptonian Foods] are interested in learning our perspective on bringing back sushi and different menu items that encourage students to buy lunch more,” quotes Mehra. It is helpful for students to see that Pomptonian is still working to provide better service to its customers, while remaining in their original budget. Overall, Dr. Sargent’s panel appears to be highly effective at bringing significant change to Mendham, despite difficult challenges.
Another Mendham student who sits on the Student Advisory Panel is Devon Donnelly, a junior at Mendham. Overall, she gave a highly positive review of the panel, stating the unifying quality of the panel is represented in the fact that it “brings together groups of students from different grades, who all have different hobbies and extracurriculars, to speak about the common interests of all students.” Donnelly is adamant that Dr. Sargent’s true focus is to benefit the lives of students, reporting, “I’ve seen these changes be considered and implemented, and it makes me happy to be a part of something that is able to do that.” In summary, it seems that the Mendham students involved in the Student Advisory Panel have only positive things to say about their time meeting with students from Central and administrators.
Central students also appreciate hearing about what issues are important at Mendham. For example, junior and Editor-in-Chief of The Paw, Elyse Cuccaro at West Morris Central claims that, “…the creation of the student advisory panel itself has allowed so many more students to feel comfortable voicing their beliefs and trying to make the Central and Mendham school communities.” Additionally, when asked about how the panel has connected Elyse better to Mendham, she replied that she was able to meet many “wonderful” and “like-minded” people through the panel, proving how a bond is being built between Mendham and Central through Dr. Sargent’s expert engineering of this Student Advisory Panel.
Principal Ryan also believes that the panel is an integral part of Mendham, saying that, “any opportunities to give students a voice are important.” Mr. Ryan notes that Dr. Sargent’s panel is different from previous years because, in the past, Mendham had a panel with the superintendent that only allowed students to partake in the meetings. He believes that this definitely helps with communication between students and administrators, but in relation to efficiency, he says that there are “pros and cons” to a panel with the principals, versus one without. Principal Ryan most identifies with the role of an observer on the Student Advisory Panel, remarking that if students have questions, he, “provide[s] context or understanding of what goes into conditions or policies.” Mr. Ryan does not intend to bring direct issues to the panel because he prioritizes bringing issues related to the Mendham student body to the student council. This seems to allow the students sitting on the panel to have a stronger voice, as they usually do not have the platform to talk to the superintendent, like Mr. Ryan has as principal.
Principal Ryan discussed a few topics that overlapped with those that Samairaa and Devon raised, including how the Pomptonian food service, “has been responsive to some of the feedback they received.” One example of this responsiveness, he says, was the decision to create an Instagram account for the school’s cafeteria, an idea presented by Mendham student, Cadence Schoenmaker. This new exposure to what Pomptonian has to offer for students is said to be implemented in Quarter 3, according to Mr. Ryan. Although it has yet to become a topic of conversation for the Student Advisory Panel, the ability for seniors to leave during lunch, especially when it is preceded or followed by a study hall period, is something the principal said he is willing to discuss. However, it is unlikely that this opportunity will be reviewed by the panel because, unlike Mendham, Central does not have access to nearby restaurants and stores. When asked if he had any final thoughts about the West Morris Student Advisory Panel, Mr. Ryan expressed that, “[he] just want[s] to express gratitude to student representatives on the panel.”
Clearly, the student advisory panel works hard at communicating balanced feedback between students and faculty, in order to create brighter futures for the students within the West Morris Regional School District. It is impressive to see the great impact a small group can make within our school community.
