The Alberta Minister of Education’s Student Advisory Council explores ways to improve education in Alberta, and its members act as ambassadors of Speak Out within their schools and communities. The council:
- Collects and represents the youth voice and provides advice to the Minister of Education and other education stakeholders.
- Provides the student perspective on all things related to education.
- Rallies other Alberta students to get involved, share their voice
- Takes a leadership role in the transformation of the education system in Alberta.
- Represent a diversity of voices, from students who love school to students who hate school.
Who are They?
The Minister’s Student Advisory Council consists of 28 youth between the ages of 14 and 19 years old (as of June 30 of the year in which they apply). The province has been divided into different education zones. Every attempt is made to have representation from each zone. Council members are selected based on a diversity of backgrounds, opinions and experiences.
What Do They Do?
The Minister’s Student Advisory Council is responsible for a number of tasks during their one-year term. These tasks include, but are not limited to:
- Being an ambassador of Speak Out – the Alberta Student Engagement Initiative and assisting with promotions and student recruitment for the website, Forums, Taking Action projects and Conference.
- Being an active Registered User of www.speakout.alberta.ca by participating in the polls, blogs, surveys, contests and discussion board.
- Co-creating and writing the Speak Out newsletter with the Speak Out team.
- Assisting in the planning and hosting of a student voice forum in their school or community using a tool kit provided bySpeak Out.
- Attending the Annual Speak Out Conference and assisting in the planning, delivery, recruitment and facilitation of the conference.
- Providing ongoing feedback on proposed strategies as brought forward by Alberta Education.
- Participating in Ministry meetings and provincial events where the student voice and perspective is being sought.
- Networking and building a Student Engagement Team with the support and assistance of Speak Out and school system administrators.
- Conducting a Taking Action project with their Student Engagement Team to improve their education in their school community.
- Providing ongoing feedback on Speak Out including the website, promotional products, recruitment strategies, advertising campaigns and summary reports.
- Local relationships with peers, school leaders and administrators with the support and assistance of a local mentor and/or the Student Engagement team.
A New Vision
Speak Out – the Alberta Student Engagement Initiative is working to make student engagement bigger, better and stronger. We are developing new ways to enable students to work alongside all education partners, including teachers, principals, superintendents, government staff, to help transform the education system. Through sharing their voice, students will become leaders in bringing the vision of the educated Albertan as an engaged thinker, ethical citizen with entrepreneurial spirit to reality.
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