District 228 Students Become School Board Members For A Day

TINLEY PARK — Dozens of high-school students across District 228 will lead the regularly scheduled school board meeting Tuesday in an embedded practice designed to teach them about careers in education.

Four students from each of the district's four high schools —Bremen, Tinley Park, Hillcrest, Oak Forest — will role play each board-member and administrator positions, and will conduct board business as usual, complete with votes on construction bids and personnel requests.

Board members and administrators will sit next to the students to coach them through the process. Students who don't participate on the board will take on other roles and will present information, take pictures and perform other tasks.

They will also present a special award to Anna Helwig, a dean from South Suburban Community College, for her contributions to the district, including its alternative-education program.

The students learned about district operations and the people behind the scenes in a daylong workshop ahead of the meeting. The purpose, Bonnema said, is to introduce them to careers they may be interested in later in life.

"A lot of our students want to go into education after high school, and this is a good way to show them how it's done," said district spokeswoman Jamie Bonnema.

The role-playing exercise is the brainchild of Superintendent Bill Kendall who started it 10 years ago.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Tues., Jan. 15, at Hillcrest High School at 17401 S. Pulaski Rd. in Country Club Hills. It is open to the public. The meeting will be recorded and posted on the district's YouTube channel.

Board members will convene briefly after the meeting to legally verify and record the votes.

The students and their roles:

Board President Kristine Resler
Alonzo Arostegui, Hillcrest

Board Vice-President Larry Canning
Bruce Wood, Tinley Park

Board Secretary Evelyn Gleason
Ludana Jean Charles, Hillcrest

Board Member Mark Johnson
Charles Bennett, Bremen

Board Member Leslie Jones
Kyla Duncan, Tinley Park

Board Member Kim Kampwirth
Ryan Grand, Tinley Park

Board Member Debi Stearns
Ana Sanchez, Tinley Park

Superintendent Bill Kendall
Zoe Gurick, Bremen

Photo via District 228.