January 5, 2021
By News Director Jared Atha
Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister has named 74 high school students from around the state to her 2022 Student Advisory Council. This is the seventh year the group has convened to assist Hofmeister and the Oklahoma State Department of Education with policy matters.
Of the 74 named students, six hail from Western Oklahoma.
Those six are Jocelyn Pranabdev from Elk City, Richard Aldridge and Jamie Peffer from Merritt, Maridian Bales from Sayre, Dominik Villanueva from Clinton, and Addie Heglin from Hobart.
The 2022 Student Advisory Council will hold its first meeting virtually on January 25. Students will discuss issues they face in school and brainstorm remedies. Feedback from the Student Advisory Council has influenced state-level initiatives to provide teachers more professional development in trauma-informed instruction, replace end-of-course high school testing with ACT or SAT, and pilot Individual Career Academic Planning.
Students named to the council represent rural, urban and suburban schools of all sizes. Each student was recommended by their district superintendent. Eighteen, including Peffer from Merritt, are returning members who have served on the council in previous years.
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