Students will investigate real school issues and work as a student advisory board to develop practical recommendations that matter to their community. Through a Boardroom Blitz launch, weekly board meetings with defined roles, clarifying questions, and shared decisions, they will build collaborative discussion, research, writing, and revision skills. Guest youth leaders, an administrator check-in, and weekly reflection slips will help students test ideas, improve their action plan, and prepare three school-wide recommendations. The work culminates in a Change Maker Expo where students present their advisory board action plan and portfolio to families, school leaders, and community guests.

Students will engage in structured board-style discussions by taking roles, asking clarifying questions, building on others’ ideas, and reaching shared decisions about school issues. They will conduct short research using station notes, peer input, administrator feedback, and community partner perspectives to identify priority concerns and develop three realistic recommendations for an action plan. Students will strengthen their writing by drafting, revising, and refining meeting agendas, recommendations, and portfolio pieces for authentic audiences. They will also use weekly reflection slips and feedback forms to evaluate how their collaboration, leadership, and communication contribute to the group’s progress and final exhibition.

Students will create working products throughout the project, including Boardroom Blitz station notes, issue-voting results, meeting agendas, role sheets, research notes, feedback forms from youth leaders and administrators, and weekly reflection slips collected in a project portfolio. Midway through, teams will develop a draft student advisory board action plan that names priority issues, outlines meeting roles and norms, and proposes possible solutions. By the end, they will produce a polished action plan with the top issues, a clear board structure, and three school-wide recommendations for administrators. For the Change Maker Expo, students will also create an interactive display or presentation board that shares their evidence, recommendations, and revision process with families, school leaders, and community guests.

Start with a “Boardroom Blitz” where students rotate through 3–4 fast stations featuring real school issues, such as cafeteria flow, hallway behavior, advisory activities, or student stress, using photos, short quotes, and quick data snippets to spark discussion. At each station, students identify who is affected, ask clarifying questions, and record possible causes or solutions, then vote on the issues they most want a student advisory board to address. Close with a brief whole-group debrief in which students form initial meeting roles, name what effective board members need to do, and complete a first reflection slip about how their discussion choices helped the group. If possible, invite a youth leader from a local community center to join the debrief as a guest listener and share what makes student recommendations credible and useful.

Host a Change Maker Expo where student teams set up interactive displays featuring their advisory board action plan, top issues, meeting roles, and three school-wide recommendations. Families, administrators, teachers, and local youth leaders from the community center rotate through the displays, ask questions, and leave written or video feedback about impact and feasibility. Each team gives a short board-style presentation that highlights how station notes, meeting agendas, feedback forms, and weekly reflection slips shaped their final recommendations. End with a response wall where guests identify one idea they support and one next step they want the school to consider.