Last month, Westborough High School student leaders gathered together in the cafeteria one morning before school to participate in roundtables discussions about school issues. Student Council Executive Board Member senior Caitlyn Johnson who is also thalso thecations Coordinator for the student council organized the roundtable event.

About 50 student leaders attended the rountables. The leaders consisted of club leaders, athletes, student council members, and other activities.

Johnson learned about the idea of a roundtable from a student council leadership conference she attended over the summer.

Johnson adds, “I learned that a lot of other towns do roundtables, and I thought it would be cool if we did them at WHS, especially since we haven’t done this before.”

Some of the issues discussed were the new school start time schedule, flextime, club meetings being affected by the new schedule, and activity fees.

Johnson believes another issue is, “lack of knowledge of other clubs and how a lot of people don’t always go to other events because they don’t know they exist. There isn’t a lot of crossover with activities at our school.”

Student Council President senior Harrison Israel spoke about the idea of the roundtables.

He shares, “For years we have felt there hasn’t been enough school spirit and pride, and school interconnectedness. We really wanted to make sure that everyone and every club gets a say.”

At the rountables, the student leaders were divided up into smaller tables, resulting in a variety of leaders talking together in smaller conversations, and then coming together as one big group.

Junior Class of 2020 Secretary, Samantha Stucchi attended the rountables.

“I thought this was a great event and it brought together so many leaders in our school. It was eye-opening to learn about the other clubs in our schools, and come together to discuss common issues,” comments Stucchi

Reflecting on the roundtable, Johnson was pleased with the turnout.

“There was a surprisingly impressive turnout, especially for the morning.  I’m really excited and happy that so many people came. Also after talking to some of my fellow-student council members, I think that a lot of good conversations were happening which is exactly what I wanted. A lot of leaders and empowered people in the school talking together about school issues,” remarks Johnson.

Israel compliments  Johnson on her initiative.

He says,  “She implemented it really well, it was a great start, and I know she is looking for more ways to connect the school in more ways in the future, so everyone is really proud of her. We want to make sure that everyone feels welcomed and knows that Student Council is representing the students. We are here for the students.”

With all of the information discussed at the roundtables, Johnson has already taken action. She started a Student Leaders Network Facebook group which is a place for all WHS student leaders to post about what is going on in the school and with their clubs.

Johnson hopes social media will connect the school’s leaders and make them more knowledgeable about the events taking place within our school.

She also adds, “I know a lot of people want to be more involved with what’s going on in the school and trying to meet with admin during the school day, I think that would be a really cool change. We would have to look more into it though, but I think that could be a really neat idea.”

Johnson is also planning to run more roundtables in the future. She plans to do one at least each sports season.