First ever Marion County Student Summit hailed a success
Feb. 2—FAIRMONT — High school rivalries had no place at Tuesday's roundtable.
Students from East Fairmont, Fairmont Senior, North Marion high schools and the Marion County Technical Center traveled to the county's central office after school Tuesday to meet with board of education staff for the inaugural meeting of the new student summit. The summit concept is one of School Superintendent Donna Hage's first goals she set when was hired in July 2021.
In total there were 19 students, who represented the schools and were chosen by their principals to submit agenda items and be part of the discussion.
The meeting was lead by Sydney Megna, a senior at NMHS.
The agenda was packed, and Hage said it will likely take multiple meetings like this to cover all the items.
"I really wanted to organize this sort of meeting because I do value your input as students," Hage said to the group. "I know there are things we need to improve upon and I think this is one of the first ways we can do that."
Joining Hage from the board of education was Board Vice President Donna Costello and board member Tom Dragich, who also sat in on the meeting and gave their input when relevant. However, the majority of the meeting, Hage and her colleagues took notes while the students talked.
"This [summit] is something I've wanted for the last four years and I appreciate you all taking the time to participate," Costello said to the students. "Join in the conversation. Whatever you think that we need to know or that we need to help with just please tell us."
On the agenda were hot-button topics, such as vaping, bullying, mental health and spending allocations. Quite an impressive list that was entirely curated by the students.
The Marion County Technical Center and how to market it better was one of the topics that took up the majority of Tuesday's meeting.
One of the meeting's most vocal students was Abigail Getz, a sophomore representing MCTC said she believes the tech center could have its attendance bolstered by providing tours, counselor's spreading the word and middle school involvement.
"One of the major topics I sent in was 'tech center recognition,'" Getz said. "Kids aren't aware, parents aren't aware of what the tech center has to offer ... We need to make people more aware of that we have."
Another topic that took a lot of the discussion time was ways to improve student mental health. Megna shared her experience and had several proposed solutions.
"We talk about this a lot [at North Marion], I wanted to talk about teaching different coping strategies and maybe bringing in outside therapists or counselors," Megna said. "Of course we all have counselors at our schools, but maybe you have something you're not comfortable sharing with them."
Overall, Hage said she "was thrilled" with the work accomplished at the summit and is looking forward to the upcoming meetings with representatives from the middle schools.
"I'm proud of our students and encouraged by the way they embraced this leadership opportunity," Hage said after the meeting. "They discussed some difficult topics and not only brought concerns but solutions."
Reach David Kirk at dkirk@timeswv.com.
