On January 14th I had the pleasure of attending the Oregon Students United Leadership Summit put on by various organizations across the state. The summit–which took place on zoom–had representation from high schoolers from all over Oregon.

The summit was facilitated by a group of 4 student leaders and a handful of teachers from a variety of schools. The summit gave students the opportunity to discuss lots of issues facing our communities, including discrimination against BIPOC and LGBTQ+. Students had an open round table where they could bring up and discuss solutions to problems with equity that we’re still seeing today. This summit gave a spotlight to lots of students who feel marginalized in their schools and communities.

Students were also given a lesson on how to draft a bill to be given to state legislation. As a group, we drafted and revised a bill that focuses on elevating student voices and creating a council for student leadership at a state level. This summit showed me that we as a student body have the power to create meaningful change at both the county and state levels, and I look forward to future summits.

I also got the opportunity to interview another student who went, Miguel Tejeda, a junior at Wilsonville High School. Miguel had a lot of good input about what went well, what went poorly, and what could be better next time.

Q: How do you think the meeting went overall?
A: I personally feel like the meeting was fine, but more input was necessary. They explained everything very deeply and thoroughly, but maybe we could’ve had more time in breakout rooms.

Q: Do you think real progress is being made with meetings like these?
A: Real progress is being made because now they are finally beginning the concept of a council for student equity. Before people probably never thought of a council and now we have one, so that’s a big change. But there’s still a lot of room for progress beyond this.

Q: What does the future of this student committee look like?
A: The future of the student committee first begins with voting and deciding who will be a part of the committee, and after that, we will begin enacting change and equity.

Thanks to Miguel for shedding some light on this new committee, and stay tuned for further details and how to get involved!