District 113 board welcomes five student liaisons

The Township High School District 113 board of education is starting them early.

Three incoming seniors from Highland Park High School and two from Deerfield High School make up the first class of student liaisons to the board, appointed at the board of education's May 24 meeting.

The plan is for one liaison from each school to sit in on the first board meeting of the month on a rotating schedule beginning in September, near the start of the 2022-23 academic year.

"Not only will it look good on college applications, I think it's just a great opportunity, the experience to be the first class of students doing this. Hopefully it sets it up for future students to take after us," said Deerfield rising senior Anna Catella.

Each of the liaisons - Catella, Highland Park twins Jeremy and Raquel "Rocky" Bach, Highland Park's Evelyn Gehrig and Deerfield's Keshav Shah - have been on the district's Superintendent Advisory Committee since their freshman year, as well as on their school's Principal's Advisory Committee.

Catella said being on the Superintendent Advisory Committee is how District 113 Superintendent Bruce Law reached out to them for the liaison platform.

"Obviously, we all accepted because it's an amazing thing," said Catella, a field hockey player for the Warriors and participant in several other school activities.

"Bringing a student voice to discussions at the board table is an idea I have wanted to incorporate since I came to District 113, but we were sidelined by the pandemic. Now that things are normalizing, we can move ahead with student liaisons to the board," Law said.

"Student liaisons cannot vote or attend closed session, but they will be able to provide the student perspective in real-time as the board discusses topics that impact them. I think this interaction will be tremendously beneficial and valuable to both the board and the students.

"The board will hear input directly from the students, and the students will have a seat at the table and be able to bring that interaction back into school. Is there a better civics experience than that?" Law said.

While Shah realizes District 113 board policy establishes the process by which agenda items are set, by the district superintendent in consultation with the board president, currently Ken Fishbain, he comes to the position equipped with an idea: align start times at both district high schools, pare down what he considers to be a superfluous first-hour home room session, and start school "maybe 15 or 30 minutes later."

As an adult in the future, Shah perhaps will propose measures like that as part of a board. For Shah, a member of Deerfield's Human Rights Club, Model United Nations and Chess Club, the liaison role could lead to a position making policy or in community service.

"This will give me really good experience with that, and it might be something I'd want to do in the future," he said.

Though twins, Jeremy Bach said he and Raquel offer different perspectives and different personalities. Jeremy's looking forward to serving as a liaison.

"It's nice to know that what you're saying will have an impact," Jeremy said.

"I was happy that we'd have the opportunity to share our thoughts and opinions with more people than the Superintendent Advisory Board."

Since it's a new position, the students will likely need to settle in. Catella, whose sole personal experience in the board room came when the group was recognized as incoming student liaisons on May 24, admitted she'd need to watch a couple more board meetings "to make sure I know what I'm going to be doing."

They certainly don't lack initiative.

"Just in general, I want to make the school a better place, a better experience for all the new students coming in," Shah said. "I've got my sister (Sahana) coming in (as a freshman), I want to make school the best it can be."