Louise Lacroix is a grade 12 student at MUCC and is the Northeast School Division representative on the Provincial Youth Council. (Submitted photo/Government of Saskatchewan)

By Mat Barrett

Provincial Youth Council

Student-Teacher connection and mental health main priorities for Northeast rep on youth council

Oct 17, 2019 | 1:00 PM

The Government of Saskatchewan has officially announced who will serve on their first Provincial Youth Council.

The council features 12 high school students from 12 different school divisions across the province. The group will have the opportunity to address issues regarding education and other ways to engage students.

The Northeast School Division’s representative is Louise Lacroix, a grade 12 student at Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate. She was nominated by the school and then had an over the phone interview. She was one of 12 to be chosen for the council of 51 students that applied. Lacroix said it caught her eye because having the council is a great idea to better improve schools throughout the province.

“I think it’s a good change to have a student’s perspective,” she said. “Over just what other adults think is going on in our schools.”

There are plenty of topics that could be spoken to when the council meets for the first time. Louise said she has spoken with friends and fellow classmates to see what is on the top of their mind, and there were a few that she discovered.

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“Mental health and just a teacher student connection would be pretty critical for me,” Lacroix said. “Just because of, more times nowadays, students are not always connecting with their teachers or teacher assistants very well and I think that should be one of the main points that come up.”

Outside of the council and the classroom, Lacroix is very involved with extracurricular activities. Currently, she is on the Senior Girls volleyball team at MUCC, something she said allows her to speak with students from across the region and understand what is going on in different schools.

On top of volleyball, Lacroix is a Co-President of MUCC’s Student’s Against Drinking and Driving program. Outside of MUCC, she has been involved with the girl guides in Melfort as well as the Melfort Dance Centre, both for well over 10 years. She said a lot of it involves lots of community service, and talking to people from around the region.

Lacroix added that the new council gives students a chance to have their voice heard more than before.

“Having a student’s perspective is key to know what’s going on in the schooling system,” she said. “Just because right now there’s just adults thinking that everything is going right and they need a student’s opinion on what needs to change and what needs to be better.”

The council will meet for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 19 where members will be able to sit down with the Minister of Education and begin discussions on different topics.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6