Two Carroll County Schools high school juniors are among just 74 students selected statewide to serve on State School Superintendent Richard Woods’s 2024-2025 Student Advisory Council. Selected from 1,550 applicants, the council meets with Superintendent Woods throughout the year to provide feedback on the impact of state policies in the classroom.
Representing Carroll County Schools are Central High School student Griffin Bass and Temple High School student Jack Jordan.
Members of the Student Advisory Council also serve as the Superintendent’s ambassadors to their respective schools and participate in service projects to benefit schools and students.
“I am thrilled to welcome this new group of students to our 2024-2025 Student Advisory Council,” Superintendent Woods said. “These young leaders represent the future of Georgia, and their voices are crucial as we continue to shape the direction of education in our state. I look forward to hearing their ideas, insights, and perspectives as we work together to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed.”
Each year, any student in grades 10-12 attending a Georgia public school (including charter schools) may fill out an application to be considered for the Student Advisory Council. The application includes short essay prompts that allow students to share their ideas for public education.
This year, students selected for the Council wrote essays addressing a wide variety of issues in education, including curriculum and graduation requirements; the impact of federal- and state-mandated assessments in the classroom; the importance of teacher recruitment and retention efforts to students’ classroom experience; and access to opportunities and resources for students in rural areas.
The council includes students from every Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) region in Georgia; students represent rural, suburban, and urban schools. Because GaDOE works to ensure the council is representative of students in all areas of the state and selects students based on the strength of their essay answers, multiple students from a district may be selected in some cases.
The first 2024-2025 Student Advisory Council meeting will be held in November at the Georgia Department of Education’s offices.
Carroll County School Superintendent Scott Cowart has a local Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council composed of 32 students representing each Carroll County middle and high school. The local council develops the students into ambassadors for themselves, their schools and the district utilizing the assistance of the University of West Georgia Blue Coat Student Ambassadors.
Carroll County Student Ambassadors represent the district at events such as the Realtor Breakfast, Community Conversations and the district Teacher of the Year celebration.