How you can help as a student

  1. Wear Red on Tuesdays
  2. Welcome teachers into the front of the building every Tuesday morning at 7:50AM
  3. Speak during public comment at a School Committee Meeting: Sign up here goo.gl/forms/5FGB9mQeJTWcaIJ32​​​ - Next meetings: 3/21/17, 4/4/17, 4/25/17​
  4. Speak during public comment at a Town Council Meeting: Sign up here goo.gl/forms/5FGB9mQeJTWcaIJ32​​​ - Next meetings: 3/13/17, 3/27/17, 4/10/17, 4/24/17
  5. ​Personally thank a teacher
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We strongly condemn unfair treatment and disrespect in any form towards teachers, elected officials, and the local media. We are not responsible for and do not associate ourselves with any such actions 

School Committee Public Comment #1

ANTHONY SOSCIA: Honorable members of the East Greenwich School Committee, thank you for giving us the opportunity to come before you tonight with our concerns as students. We fully recognize that your tasks are often difficult, and we join you with the utmost respect for you and your elected positions on the School Committee, as well as respect for the local media, students, teachers, and the democratic process. ​

We are here as the Civic Action Club from East Greenwich High School, a group of politically active students looking to make a change, and we are here alongside many other students. Our club mission states we are devoted to inspire and encourage civic action, create a community of students to assist each other with their political goals, and make political change by letting the world hear the voices of high school students.​ 

We cannot make it any clearer that the East Greenwich High School Civic Action Club is an independent group of students, taking on issues of our own interests without any influence of outside sources. We represent the voices of EGHS students. In order to participate in our club, all members have signed in agreement with the following statement “I will maintain the independence of the student-based and student-run club and not be influenced by any outside sources such as other organizations, unions, parents, teachers, elected officials, and government employees.”

Over the last few weeks we have worked to support our teachers, and with all due respect we wish to convey a few main points of concern among the student body. 

The following statement has gained around 200 signatures of agreement from the student body: “The teachers of East Greenwich High School deserve respect and appreciation for the important work they do. Because of recent contract negotiations, our teachers feel undervalued and our high school community has lost extracurriculars, after school help, college planning resources, and more. We urge the school committee to consider student voices in making decisions that directly affect our futures.

By signing below, we students of East Greenwich High School agree to the above statement and show support for our teachers.”

ALIVIA SAUNDERS: Time spent in the classroom with EGHS teachers has endowed us with essential skills for our everyday lives and that prepare us for our futures, and this leads us to our first concern. 

We would like to convey our deep respect and admiration for our teachers. We have received a wonderful education from the East Greenwich Public Schools because of well-treated teachers who have shown a great amount of professionalism. We recall all those teachers who have inspired and empowered us to reach new heights.

While we are not privy to, and choose to stay out of detailed contract dynamics, we have a simple message: Our teachers feel unappreciated and mistreated, and we strongly urge all of you to reevaluate and take a closer look at all of the hard work teachers do. 

In a sense, we are their only voices. Teachers can’t write articles and reach out to the media like we can. This morning, our club led the student body in a public show of support for our teachers. We applauded our teachers as they walked in the building together. While we stood there and cheered them on, every single teacher had a beautiful smile on his or her face. Many whispered a quiet “thank you” in our direction, avoiding acts of unprofessionalism and legal concerns by showing a too public display of gratitude. It is apparent that our teachers feel helpless and trapped.

LUKE ELLER: As we mentioned before, we are unable to testify to the details of the contract negation and how it affects our teacher’s salary, benefits, etc. We defer to the experience of the school committee to make that judgement. What we are able to speak to, however, are the many ways in which the contract negotiations affect student life and the culture of our school. As you all know, work-to-rule has negatively affected our high school community in many ways. That which makes our school vibrant and unique is diminishing. 

We have all heard about how work-to-rule has prevented various clubs and extracurriculars from running. We have heard about how students are unable to receive extra help after school, how beloved events like International Idol are being cancelled, how students worry that their letters of recommendation will not be written next year. But what you might now be aware of is the existential threat that the contract negotiation poses to the culture of our school. Ladies and gentlemen, the rock outside the entrance to East Greenwich High School currently reads “Stop Teacher’s Crap.” Apparently, not all students in our school share our sentiment to be supportive of the teachers. Please imagine what it must have felt like to be a teacher and read that sign on the rock this morning. How must it feel to be resented by your own students? We fear that if this situation is not resolved quickly, tensions between the student body and our teachers may permanently change the symbiotic culture of our school. We have always had wonderful relationships with our teachers, and we have no intention of allowing this to change.

ABBY: “We are devoted to inspire and encourage civic action.” This is the first phrase of our mission. 

The main goal of Civic Action Club is to push the students of EGHS to become civically active, and educate them on the importance of participating in democracy, bringing us to our last concern of the lack of outreach to students with major school issues, such as the school start time. We know many of you try to connect with the students and hear feedback, and Mrs. Mark has even offered to work with us on getting a student representative on the School Committee, which we’d be glad to work on and highly appreciate. In general, however, we feel that the student voice is not heard or not sought out often enough.

Especially with this particular issue, the student voice is integral to a sound decision making process. We are the people most directly affected by work-to-rule. First and foremost, the duty of the school committee should be to secure a quality education for us, the students. It is only fitting that our input on the matter be made a priority. Just because we are students does not mean we don’t have a voice. It has happened in the past that we are empowered by our community to take on big change, but when we finally did act, our actions were shut down out and our opinions dismissed.

We hope that by listening to us speak tonight, you have gained a new perspective. Please take a closer look at the situation and the effects on the entire community. Thank you for your time and consideration, we’d now like to introduce Claire Greineder who has some words to say in partnership with our club.