With the sudden leave of absence of former Principal Douglas Nelson and the arrival of interim Principal Dr. Joseph Bostic, change within the school has been inevitable. Under his new leadership, Bostic has founded a principal advisory council, the Multi-Leader Student Association (MLSA).
The student organization consists of leaders from student-led groups throughout the school including but not limited to the Student Government Association (SGA), Senior Planning, Black Student Union (BSU), Jewish Student Union (JSU), Minority Scholars Program and Muslim Student Association. Students who weren’t nominated as student leaders but expressed interest in voicing their opinions also are part of the organization. With the goal of strengthening communication within the school and making necessary change, the mission statement of MLSA is “I CAN…stand with my community and together, support one another, and embrace our shared purpose to ensure each community member thrives.”
Within the current and previous school years a number of hate-bias incidents and lack of proper protocol being followed resulted in the leave of absence of Principal Nelson and a lack of trust in administration. A rally for change initiated and led by students in BSU and SGA demonstrated the need to “foster unity and create real change for underrepresented students,” junior SGA and MLSA member Lilly Semnani said.
Upon inheriting the fractured school culture, Bostic formed the MLSA hoping to unify the school community with administration. As he began his role as interim principal, Bostic first met with each staff and student group to “listen, learn, and better understand both the student and staff experience,” Bostic said.
When initiating the Multi-Leader Student Association, Bostic emphasized student voice in issues that needed to be addressed. After compiling a variety of issues students brainstormed, a Google form was sent out to MLSA members to decide which themes the school should focus on first. Based on student voice, the themes to focus on were psychological safety and well-being. The student organization next hosted a facilitated communication town hall on Apr. 2 and 3, in order to speak on issues identified. Held in the auditorium, the organization created a forum for students to express their concerns within the school. The evolving and developing group has the goal to, “amplify student voice, build leadership capacity, and foster a culture of belonging, advocacy, and service,” Bostic said.
After the town hall, which was run by MLSA, Bostic was informed that town halls are typically run by SGA. Similarly to MLSA, “SGA focuses on out-of-school advocacy, inter-school representation, and uniting the student body through school wide events,” Semnani said.
The overlap between these two student-led organizations remains a topic of discussion since their responsibilities and roles have a similar focus on representation of the student body. However, with the involvement of SGA members and other student leadership groups, MLSA “serves as a place of coexistence,” senior SGA, executive council and JSU member Madeline Eig said.
The group meets regularly to plan initiatives, provide student feedback and support school-wide events. Rebuilding the school culture has been on Bostic’s agenda since day one and, through this organization, he hopes to engage in “meaningful dialogue and action that reflect the needs of our entire student body, school, and community,” Bostic said.
