By Sanjana Jain, Staff Writer
On April 8th, a select group of River Hill students will have the opportunity and privilege of assuming all responsibilities of River Hill’s administrative, front office, and guidance staff for the school day.
This activity is an experiment being conducted by the Howard County Public School System to see the “preparedness, capabilities, and willingness of a high school’s student body to be able to take charge in the absence of adults,” explained Principal Motley. Although he expressed other methods could have been used “like ensuring each student memorizes HCPSS Student Code of Conduct and testing them on it,” the County seems to wish to take a more lighthearted approach.
In the spring break River Hill Student Newsletter, which was published on March 21, Mr. Motley detailed the activity’s application process. “When I first read the blurb in the newsletter, I was ecstatic!” shared senior Kayla Garnett. “I could just picture my friends and I running the school for a day – what a way to end our senior year,” she continued. Senior Becca Sirak agreed with Kayla, and stated, “Students should prepare to have the best school day of their lives if I’m in charge.”
Unlike Kayla and Becca, not all students received this opportunity with the same optimism. Senior Sapna Joy expressed her feelings of concern: “I’m just worried about River Hill’s student community missing the administrative staff’s vibrant personality for an entire day,” she said.
The application process to be a part of this experiment is extensive. First, an applicant has to decide which position they would like to apply for, since they can only choose one. While there are some minute differences in the application based on which position a student selects, the general requirements are the same.
Applicants have to construct extensively detailed responses to 6 questions which cover a variety of topics. However, the question that likely has the highest weightage would be, ‘Please detail any prior experience you have in school administrative work. This includes serving as a principal, vice-principal, guidance counselor, etc. at any secondary school or higher education institution in the United States. If additional information is necessary to generate a complete response, please provide the contact information for the institution at which you served.’
Students are required to submit two letters of recommendation: one half-a-page teacher recommendation and one letter a peer of the applicant, like a friend or mentor of the student’s choice.
Teachers were prompted to detail the student’s ability to receive and solve problems, their usual personality and demeanor in class, and their ability to collaborate with their peers. Student recommenders had more flexibility as to what they could include in their letter, but they were encouraged to provide a unique insight to their peer’s characteristics that perhaps a teacher could not capture.
Senior Orhan Tasci expressed his agreement with the Board of Education’s decision to ask for a peer letter of recommendation, and stated, “I believe it provides a more intimate insight into who the applicant is as a human being – teachers can be really oblivious and, at times, generalize all students together.”
Students also have to schedule a mandatory interview with Mr. Motley. He explained how during interviews he was “really searching for 3 main characteristics for a student to be considered the best candidate: tenacity, honesty, and a sense of humor.” Student interviews are currently ongoing and will conclude after spring break.
Although students will be in charge on April 8th, River Hill’s actual employed administrators and guidance staff will still be in the building to ensure the day operates smoothly. But, they are not allowed to interfere in a situation unless there is an emergency. “Why that was suggested as a key rule of this activity,” said Mr. Motley, “is so that we can observe how students react in different situations,” he explained.
He provided the following example: “Let’s say the ‘Principal’ that day catches a group of students skipping class – what then? Will they be lenient and allow their peers to continue to engage in immoral behavior as a form of rebellion, or will they act according to HCPSS guidelines and ensure those students return to class and apologize to their teacher?”
The application is due by 11:59 p.m on April 1st. In the newsletter, it was clearly stated that no extensions will be granted if a student is unable to submit their application by the deadline since this experiment is highly valuable, “and no irresponsible or unqualified students can taint it,” clarified Mr. Motley.