Principal Advisory Council

This year Mr. Sinclair is directing a Principal Advisory Council. His goal is to give students an opportunity to voice input and feedback to school administration about issues facing Blake. “I want to formalize a way to hear students’ voices,” he says, “I want to open it up for everyone. I wanna find a good representation group that can provide student input into what students wanna see.”

Most meetings will be held during the school day during Advisory or lunch (and the occasional class period, or after school). All meetings are not mandatory and will most likely be held in the amphitheater. “The more we can get a consistent group the better,” he states. 

All students are encouraged to apply regardless of GPA or past leadership experience. If you’re interested you can apply here. Applications are open until tomorrow and students will be notified of acceptance by Sept 30. Sinclair is looking for between 20-30 students to participate. SSL hours will most likely be available in the future. 

Sinclair has always attempted to hear student voices in different ways. “I’ve asked advisors [SGA, MSP, Allies4Equality, BSU, HLC] for names in the past and I’ve talked to groups of kids but I’ve never had it set up here where kids have been interested in doing it through applying.” 

After Sinclair leaves Mrs. Shanay Snead will run the meetings, although she’ll be involved with them from the start. “Right now it will be Mrs. Snead, myself, and the kids. If the panel feels like they wanna bring someone else in we can set that up,” Sinclair explains. 

If you need motivation to apply, Sinclair states, “I want kids to be proud of being at Blake, want to be at Blake.” He continues, “If there are things that are not going right we need to hear about it so we can address it. A lot of times everybody assumes everyone knows what is wrong, and that may not be the case.” 

Although Sinclair will attempt to completely listen to what students are saying, sometimes it’ll be unrealistic (to no one’s fault). “We may not be able to do everything everyone wants, but we want students to share so we can make decisions as a school. And so staff knows how students feel. We can sit and explain what and why [we can’t do what students ask.]” So even if your peers’ decisions aren’t enacted, you can rest assured that your voice will be heard regardless, and will allow students to work together for another solution. 

This PAC could lead to big changes around the Blake building. If you want to be involved in bettering the Bengal community, apply! “If you want to see the change, you have to be the change.” Sinclair concludes.