“People support what they help create,” is one of Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross’s favorite leadership phrases. It’s how she describes Ypsilanti Community Schools’ efforts to elevate student voice and engage learners in initiatives across grade levels.
Zachery-Ross asks students to recommend their classmates to join her Michigan district’s student advisory council. “Student voice must be a part of determining how to elevate student voice,” Zachery-Ross says.
Members of the advisory council wanted to interact more with students from other schools in the district. They created several new student leadership groups and also began planning a multi-high school pep rally.
“The students have an understanding that we value their voice, that we’re not just saying it or being performative,” Zachery-Ross notes. “Student voice goes beyond ‘Are you hearing them’ to now, ‘Are they creating things with you?'”
Ypsilanti’s students are playing a key role in the adoption of AI. Zachery-Ross concedes her more affluent students are more likely to have used AI for tutoring, personal guidance, creativity and other tasks.
Students want guidance from teachers on when and how to use AI, and they want the district to clarify which AI tools are permitted. A group of student AI ambassadors is helping teachers embed AI into lessons.
The feedback is coming faster and faster, and they are thinking more critically about their own learning,” Zachery-Ross concludes. “When they see they are making a difference, they bring more and more ideas to help us ask good questions.”
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