A Grade 10 student from Glendon School is one of 40 students meeting with Alberta’s Education Minister this weekend to provide their perspectives and input on a number of education topics.
Taylor Martin, 15, applied to be part of the Minister's Youth Council in the spring and was overjoyed to find out she was selected to serve during the 2023-2024 school year.
“I think that it provides a much more in depth approach to how adults look at the situation versus students who are actually experiencing the system and how it works,” she said. “They will know first-hand the flaws that they experience within it, and I think it’s important that we have a say in how we can improve it and get better for future students.”
Martin is particularly interested in sharing her experiences as a student at a rural school and the challenges that can present with accessing programming and other educational opportunities.
“I definitely think coming from a small school you have that sense of community, but you also can see how the opportunities you are given differ from a larger scale school,” she said. “How can we better the experience of those who attend rural schools in order to prepare them for going out in the workforce or to post-secondary?”
Martin is also looking forward to hearing the opinions of other students and learning from them.
“I think I will learn many new skills and build on other skills to bring back and influence our student leadership team and others in the school community,” she said. “I've been involved in my school student leadership group for quite a few years. I think at a bigger scale I can make that much more of an impact.”