Hearing what students have to say about their experiences at Proviso Township High School District 209 is front and center among the district’s priorities and officials believe a Superintendent Student Roundtable will help.
“They are the ones that tell us what is really going on, they are the ones that are going to help us meet their needs,” said acting superintendent Bessie Karvelas. “What better to ask students and let them have a voice and let us know what they feel they need, what is lacking and what is not.”
The Superintendent Student Roundtable was formed in 2020 under the leadership of former superintendent, James L. Henderson, who wished to recruit students to help develop their plans of success and advise him on student aspirations and goals.
Henderson resigned from his position on Aug. 9, 2023 following a contentious three years with the district.
Karvelas, a longtime district administrator, was chosen by the board of education to serve as acting superintendent.
Since stepping up into the role, Karvelas has expressed her desire to “put the pieces back together,” rebuilding a district that had been fractured under previous leadership.
This is why she never misses a roundtable meeting.
“Through the superintendent, they know they can speak and they can be heard and their voice has a level of importance,” she said. “They are not just saying something that is not going to be heard.”
That level of attention has reinspired students.
Jarrell David, a sophomore at Proviso Math and Science Academy, is serving as president of the roundtable and has made it his mission to raise the Proviso district in the eyes of the community and his peers.
The roundtable is a way to bring the real student perspective to the attention of administrators.
“The roundtable comes and we provide the diverse experience of different student perspectives: all races, all colors, all gender identities, all sexual identities so that we can truly be a better and more united Proviso,” David said.
David, who participated in last year’s roundtable, said this year, with permission from Karvelas, the roundtable is addressing students directly, going to different club meetings, attending district functions, and trying to hear real and unfiltered student voices.
“We went to visit Proviso East, Proviso West, and we have been more active from last year,” he said.
Ensuring participation from all three schools — Proviso East, Proviso West, and Proviso Math and Science Academy — is crucial because the schools have different cultures and climates, Karvelas said.
“We want to ensure that we meet the needs of every single school and we understand that every single school has very different needs,” she said.
Proviso Math and Science Academy Junior Alyssa Edwards, secretary for the Superintendent Student Roundtable, joined to be a part of an organization that would help reach students and bring positive change to the district.
“I thought it was an amazing program to be a part of to actually make a difference within the schools,” Edwards said. “Our voices are much more heard and we can set up meetings to meet with the superintendent and she is actually listening to us and being proactive about the issues we are voicing.”
And the roundtable has become a safe space for students to unite together for change.
“It creates a stronger bond and makes it an enjoyable environment,” Edwards said. “I look forward to the meetings of the roundtable. I am surrounded by my peers and I can see the superintendent actively listening.”
Working to identify different issues to address, including the rebuilding of relationships within the Proviso community and to continuously grow the student body, David said another goal has been to destigmatize the district and remind the community on what it truly means to be “Proviso Proud.”
“They see us as a violent district, certain fights that have been televised or the strike, I think, also set us back because we were seen as not caring about our education but we are actively caring about our education every day,” Edwards said. “We have amazing programs within the district that show we are good students and the teachers are just as good. We are just as good as any other school that is in the surrounding areas.”
David agrees.
“We are coming together and we are strengthening those relationships between all three schools because all three schools need to know that they are nothing but the best,” David said. “They are vessels of historic abundance, that these schools are truly the bedrock of the community and that is what a lot of people have forgotten.”
One way to tackle this is by creating subcommittees within the roundtable.
“It is going to be student focused and student lead,” David said. “I want our student body to know that they truly have voices that have not been heard.”
David said it is time for the roundtable to be more present amongst the student body and hopes Proviso students know that they are truly here to help, which they are doing with the help of Karvelas and Janessa Salgado, secretary to the district superintendent.
“We want them to know that they are part, a very important part of the district, and a component that needs to be heard,” she said. “We want them to know that this roundtable is just as important as the school board, if not more.”
