Twenty high school students from across Illinois will meet for the first time at Wednesday’s Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) meeting as members of the ISBE 2020-21 Student Advisory Council. The council includes 13 new and eight returning members from across the state. The Student Advisory Council provides an important student perspective as ISBE develops policy. The council will research and present to ISBE on topics affecting students’ success in Illinois. Students will focus on developing ways to respond to the achievement gap widened by COVID-19; creating a diversity, equity and inclusion framework; ensuring the safety and emotional wellbeing of students; and addressing the teacher shortage and rethinking recruitment.  The council will continue to develop the Student Voices microsite at www.isbe.net/studentvoices. The new members of the 2019-20 Student Advisory Council are:

• America Gutierrez, senior at Collinsville High School in Collinsville

• Araha Uday, junior at Schaumburg High School in Schaumburg

• Cruz Garza, sophomore at Zion-Benton Township High School in Beach Park

• Eric Veal Jr., junior at Willowbrook high School in Lombard

• Hannah Lawrence, senior at Lane Tech High School in Chicago

• Jimma Gass, senior at Eldorado High School in Eldorado

• Kaitlyn Zhou, senior at Nequa Valley High School in Naperville

• Kiersten Hornberg, senior at Huntley High School in Huntley

• Langston Span, sophomore at Champaign Central High School in Champaign

• Lia Rivera Mendoza, sophomore at Jefferson High School in Rockford

• Ranyia Cox, sophomore at East St. Louis High School in East St. Louis

• Serena Thakkar, junior at St. Charles East High School in West Chicago

• Talib Becktemba-Goss, senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park