If (students) don’t have any say, it’s hard to know that what policies are having a positive impact.””

Lauren Griffiths

PORTSMOUTH — High school students can often feel powerless when it comes to policies that impact their education. Academic schedules, the number of electives a district offers or school ratings are usually left to the whim of elected school board members, district administrators or the state commissioner of education.

Portsmouth High School senior Lauren Griffiths, however, is working hard to make sure students have a voice in the decision-making process. Since May 2019 she’s been the chairperson of the Rhode Island Student Advisory Council, made up of pupils from all over the state who advise the state education commissioner on matters of policy that impact students’ education.

“She’s going to be a future leader,” PHS Principal Joseph Amaral said of Lauren. “She is a progressive thinker. She is something that is will articulate for the viewpoint of the students the school in a way that is reasonable and practical.”

Mr. Amaral, who originally appointed Lauren to the advisory council, said she’s respectful of all points of view.

“That’s unusual for kids at this age,” he said. “When she is the student ambassador sitting at the table with the commissioner and other appointed members of the Council of Secondary Education, she comes with a viewpoint that is balanced and productive.”

We recently sat down with Lauren to ask her about her role at the state level, as well as advocating for students at PHS.

What is the student advisory group? “It’s a group of students — pretty much one from each school (district), although some don’t have one — who are there to advise the commissioner on the students’ feelings on current things that are going on. Say there’s maybe a regulation that will be place. We’ll give our input on that and explain how it would affect students, because the people who are making the decisions aren’t the ones who will be effected by them. We meet once a month.”

How important is it for students to have more of a voice?

“I think it’s extremely important because the whole point of education is to provide students a future and a base for their life. If we don’t have any say, it’s hard to know that what policies are having a positive impact.”

How did you get involved?

“I was volunteering on (Rep.) Terri Cortvriend’s campaign, and the other high school student volunteer on the campaign, who was the chair of the Student Advisory Council at the time, said Portsmouth’s seat was vacant. I showed interest in that, and Terri contacted Mr. Amaral, who appointed me to the council. I started on the council in December 2018 and I became chair when we had the elections in May.”

How many students are on the council? “There’s about 25 to 30 of us at each meeting. The representation is a lot better this year, but there are still some schools who don’t have a representative. I’ve met a lot of really cool people; it’s nice because we’re very passionate about bettering education throughout the state.”

Give us an example of student input impacting policy at the commissioner’s office? “A few meetings ago, we were discussing the star ratings for schools, and how they’re determined. The students were discussing how extracurriculars were a big part of what makes a student’s experience positive or negative. Extracurriculars give a lot of opportunities for students to be involved after school, and it gets them more involved in their academics. Our recommendation was that the amount of extracurriculars and sports offered to students should be a factor in determining the star ratings. They actually (decided) that, I think in the next round, that will be a factor that is considered.”

You’ve also been active on the local level. You were one of the students who advocated before the School Committee for more choices on electives. “That was at the end of last school year. The course schedules came out and it was a lot different than what people were expecting. Most students didn’t have the schedules they wanted; they were missing a lot of classes they had requested and which were important for their college applications. We went to the School Committee meeting — I think there were 30 of us speaking — and we also got alumni. Not much changed from it, but we’re hoping that in the future, other classes won’t have to deal with what we had to deal with. By taking away classes that students genuinely enjoy — because they picked them — I think would just decrease overall involvement an interest in academics.”

How has the schedule impacted you directly? “I wanted to take AP Spanish, or Spanish 5, but they cut that class. Now I’m taking it online, but I’m finding it a lot less effective because you’re not actually talking with someone in the language; you’re just doing assessments on a computer.”

What do you want to do after college? “I want to study international development and education. I’ve been interested in global affairs since starting Model UN, and that’s shown me what I want to do with my life. Through my involvement with RIDE, I’ve realized how important education is to the economy, joining the workforce, and on people in general to better their future pathway. I want to focus on development, but through increased access to education. Right now I’m working with a nonprofit, Days for Girls, which increases access to education for girls around the world through sustainable menstrual products, so they can continue their education.”

What is Model UN? “It’s a high school simulation of the United Nations, so for the most part you represent a country and you work with other countries to solve global issues. You have to work with a lot of people and speak in front of about 100 people. There’s a lot of times at the meetings at RIDE where the whole auditorium is full, so you’re talking in front of a lot of people. Model UN has definitely helped prepare me for that. It also exposed me to things that are going around the world that our little town of Portsmouth just doesn’t reveal. It’s taught me a lot about the world and how we can make a difference.”

Any hobbies? “I used to do track and field but this year, with all of this stuff with RIDE, Model UN, the Democrats Club and Days for Girls, I just don’t have time.”

Siblings? “I have an older brother, Ryan Griffiths. He graduated from URI last year. He is working for an oyster company — farming the oysters, packaging, distributing. He studied marine affairs. I didn’t realize how much science was behind it. He’ll be talking about all these environmental terms that I’ve not familiar with.”