SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Education is taking applications from eligible high school students interested in serving on the state agency’s Student Advisory Council (SAC) for the 2013-14 school year.
“Not only is serving on the Student Advisory Council a great opportunity for these teens, it is a great opportunity for our board to be able to work with these talented students,” said State Board of Education Chairman Gery J. Chico. “The council brings important student perspectives from all over the state to Springfield.”
The Student Advisory Council, which was established in 1975, represents a diverse group of students from across Illinois who have demonstrated a strong work ethic, the ability to think creatively and work well in groups. Eligibility for the Student Advisory Council is open to students attending a public high school in Illinois who are entering the fall semester as a sophomore, junior or senior.
“Being a part of this group has prepared me for life beyond high school in a hands-on way unavailable anywhere else,” said Kristin Ishmael, a graduating member of the 2012-13 Student Advisory Council. After graduating from Litchfield High School, Kristin plans to study biology and pre-medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The SAC members represent student concerns and can provide thoughts on ISBE’s existing and proposed programs, policies and regulations. The student members also choose a special project to research and present before the board at the end of the school year.
Members of the 2011-12 Student Advisory Council presented research on the topic of bullying to the State Board of Education. To read this special project and others from previous years, and for more information about SAC, go to
http://www.isbe.net/sac/. This year’s Student Advisory Council members will present their project examining education funding at the State Board of Education meeting in June.
“This year’s project has been challenging, but enjoyable because of the far-spread implications of our project on school funding,” said SAC member Cameron Jodlowski, who will be graduating this spring from Olympia High School in Stanford. Cameron plans on attending Iowa State University, where he will study microbiology and animal science/pre-veterinary.
Four SAC members plan to return to the council next year:
- Sabrina Flohr of Collinsville High School
- Austin Hansen of Naperville North High School
- Morgan Rich of Dee-Mack High School in Mackinaw
- Danielle Segerstrom of LeRoy High School
Those graduating this year after serving on ISBE’s Student Advisory Council are:
- Tyler Bouslog of Paris Cooperative High School
- Cristal Cabral of West Chicago Community High School
- Alex Foster of Highland Park High School
- Alexander Glowacki of Addison Trail High School
- Kimberly Liu of Neuqua Valley High School
- Michael Lotspeich of Bureau Valley High School in Manlius
- Kashmir McElrath of North Chicago High School
- Taylor Rossi of PORTA High School in Petersburg
- Kristen Ishmael of Litchfield High School
- Cameron Jodlowski of Olympia High School in Stanford
- Paige Logan of Altamont High School
- Conor Reilley of Belvidere North High School
- Jolie-Grace Wareham of Glenbard East High School
- Daniel Williams of East St. Louis High School
“Serving on the Student Advisory Council is an opportunity to learn how schools work from a different perspective that the one you’ve gotten for years as a student,” said Alex Foster of Highland Park. Alex will be attending the University of Chicago to study economics.
The deadline to submit an
application for the 2013-14 Student Advisory Council is 5 p.m. Friday, May 31, 2013. Interviews will be scheduled in July for those applicants chosen as possible members. For questions, contact Mike Hatfill of ISBE at (217) 524-4832 or
dhatfill@isbe.net.
“I have met brilliant, caring people, and more importantly have been able to learn from them,” said Conor Reilley, who will be attending Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., and plans to concentrate his studies on government or history. “I urge anyone even considering applying to the council to do so.”
