Calvert and Hickman bring many ambitions to school board

Improving Cheney High School and bringing their peers' voices to the forefront are priorities new student advisers, junior Bridget Calvert and senior Tea Hickman, bring to the Cheney School Board.

Both Calvert and Hickman are involved in school in different ways. Calvert is a PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Support) student executive and the junior representative on ASB and she also played tennis. Last year she went undefeated during the regular season and finished third in districts.

"As a freshman, I wasn't involved much in school," Calvert said. "I decided to get more involved and became treasurer of my sophomore class, then joined ASB."

What led Calvert to become a student adviser began with searching for scholarship opportunities. Along the way, staff suggested Calvert apply for a student adviser position on the board. She also spoke with 2015 graduate Connor Pratt, who was a student adviser last year, about applying.

Hickman is active in several clubs, including drama, the Writers Club and Future Business Leaders of America. She also served on the student council. Like Calvert, staff and administrators advised Hickman to apply to the board.

"We both have a lot of different perspectives and are involved with different clubs," Hickman said.

Both Calvert and Hickman filled out applications and answered questions asking how they would contribute to their school, and interviewed with the school board.

Both Calvert and Hickman credit leadership experience and dedication as factors that helped prepare them for joining the school board.

"Leadership gives you the tools to do this but you also need to get more involved yourself," Hickman said. "You need to reach out and improve communication. All the speech writing and leadership skills do come into play."

Both Calvert's and Hickman's duties include gathering information such as upcoming events from different buildings, administrators and student clubs, and bringing it to the board.

"We can talk to the school board about what high school and ASB are doing and vice versa," Hickman said.

Both Calvert and Hickman have had a good experience on the board so far. They feel board members are interested in what students have to say.

"I feel like I can share my ideas," Calvert said.

A goal Calvert and Hickman both have is to get the community involved with the school as much as possible. They also want to raise student awareness about what is happening at board meetings.

"It's important to be involved and raising awareness," Hickman said.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].