 To this month's edition of CCTV's Commissioner Corner, my name is Lucia Campriolo. I am your host for this evening's program and also represent the School Board coming from Ward 5, which is Burlington South End Community and home to Champlain Elementary School. This evening I am so thrilled to have joining me tonight, Krisha Thapa, who is our newest student rep on the School Board and joins Isaac Doggett, who's been serving now for about a year, as well as Felipe Vivonco, who wears many hats as well, including wrapping up a term as the very first Office of Equity intern. And so these two students are two of so many wonderful, incredible Burlington School District students who are doing some really wonderful things, both in the district, personally in their own professional careers, in the community and so much more. And so we are excited to have a conversation to get to know them, to learn a little bit about their experience traveling through the district as students and as representatives in the various roles that you all hold, as well as hearing a little bit about what Felipe especially is up to next, as he is a graduating senior, wrapping up a successful career as a student here and onto some exciting things affiliated with the district too. So we've got about 25 minutes for the program and we will make sure to share this resource out with folks electronically via YouTube, which is a great way to catch up on previous programs, as well as tune into this segment at your convenience. And so I think without further ado, let's get right to it. Felipe, I'd love to start with you. We had a chance to meet just a couple of months ago. I had the good fortune of attending one of three equity workshop series that were student led and student hosted and that's where we met. You are one of several students who participated in that event. And I was so impressed with a few things about the particular workshop that I had a chance to be a part of, most especially the student leadership that I saw on display. And so I would love to hear a little bit more about your experience as an intern, but before we get into that, just tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, which schools you attended within the district and perhaps tease us with a bit of what you're up to after you graduate. Okay, yeah. So my name is Felipe Ivonko. I attended Edmunds Elementary at Edmunds Middle School. I live in the Hill section of Burlington near UVM. And I plan to work at IAA next year, part of the student support staff as a behavior interventionist. That's amazing, congratulations. And thank you so much for your continued engagement and service with the school district. That is just so incredibly exciting that the pathway was available and your interest was there and that you're gonna become a part of the team in this new and different way. Awesome. Krisha, before we dive in a little bit more deeply, let's turn it over to Krisha for a brief moment to introduce yourself. I'm so excited to begin serving with you on the school board. We talked a little bit about the role of student rep when Isaac visited us, but I would be especially interested to hear from you, from your perspective, what especially drew you to serve in this new capacity and we can also explore similarly which schools you've attended in the district and then we'll take it from there. Well, I went to IEA and then I went to Edmunds Middle School. So with the school board, Tom actually reached out to me because I was part of his advisory group and he asked me if I wanted to join and I was really open to it because I mean, I actually didn't know what the school board was before so I got looking into it and Isaac was really helpful. He showed me a lot of like the ropes of it, I guess, like the little details and I've only been to two meetings so far and so far, they've been pretty good. I've enjoyed them at least. I don't know, I like giving my feedback and I like hearing what's going on in the school because I've never really experienced it like this before. I hear everything. Yeah, that's awesome. And I know another hat that you wear is as a student government representative, is that correct? Yeah. I would love to hear a little bit more about that. Tell us about how long you've been serving and maybe what was appealing about that role as well. If it's, maybe it's the same as serving as school board rep and maybe not. Student government was definitely different. My sophomore year, I really just wanted to find my voice because freshman year I felt like I was so like behind everything and sophomore year, I really rise up and like with the form of new student government, I was like, I really want this representative role. Like I would really like to have my voice heard and I ran for it and I eventually won and I think representative roles are very low-key and I'm hoping for like a bigger like improvement next year for representatives, but right now I think it's been like chill and like they, we have done like a good amount of work in student government. Awesome, we'll come back to some of that work in just a minute. So Felipe, tell us about the role of intern within the Office of Equity. It was brand new to me, what I learned of it and I'm curious to hear more about your experience in that role and what you know about plans to continue that role in the future. Just give us a little bit of context, paint us a picture. Okay, so it all started last summer when I did the Summer Racial Justice Academy and it's run by the Office of Equity Autumn Bangora who at the beginning of my senior year after I had that experience, I reached out to her, I was like, I don't have many credits to do, I have so much free time, how can I be, work with you? How can I be part of the district? And she was like, let's see what we can do. So we sat down and we just drew up a contract pretty much out of nowhere, like she, it was based off of, you know, she employs a ton of students based off some of their contracts. But it's something that is completely new, completely different. And I think the plan is to hire more interns for the Office of Equity next year and then also keep me on maybe doing some after school stuff, cause I'll be at IAA hopefully. But basically it's a whole lot of stuff. It's you do wherever they need you, that's where you go. And some of it is like directly working with the students and offering support and whatever you can. And then some of it is like planning lessons, going to meetings, just being like a face that people can be like, Office of Equity or some community outreach. Yeah, it's a whole lot of stuff. Is there any particular aspect about the work that stands out to you as something you especially enjoyed or something that really challenged you and knew in different ways? Or I don't know, any highlights at all that you'd love to share? Yeah, I found that I love working with kids. It wasn't really like a part of the job that I, like at the beginning it wasn't really what I envisioned. But after like halfway through the year I was put in IAA and then SA and then Hunt. And I just kind of warmed up to it and I was like, wow, this is genuinely so rewarding. And half of the time I go there it's not even for the students, it's for me. It's cause like it genuinely just brings me so much joy. Seeing like offering that support that a lot of teachers don't know how to give cause frankly we have a lot of white teachers in this district and they can't relate to the BIPOC community that is an IAA and SA over half the population. And I feel like I can offer that support as well as I can. But yeah, that was really a part that I hadn't really thought I would like but I was like, wow, I gotta work in a school district. Like, I can't not, so. That's awesome. So excited that you all have found a space that feels like it will continue to nurture this passion that you've discovered. And I also love that your initial interest in the work grew out of a personal experience that you had within the Summer Racial Justice Academy. And I have had a chance to view a lot of content produced by you and other students from last year's program and look forward to keeping in touch with this year's program which I know was oversubscribed from an interest perspective and continues to be, it's a newer program and continues to enjoy early success which is really exciting. There's obviously a need, there's an interest and I will look forward to following the program over the summer. But just really love that arc of finding a space that was interesting to you personally and nurturing that interest and growing it into an opportunity that models for other students not only opportunities for students to connect in new and different ways within our schools but then also discovering this additional layer of leadership which is fantastic. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Nice. Krisha, tell us a little bit more about some of what, I guess some of what the highlights for you have been within your career as a student. So doesn't need to be necessarily specific to you the two roles that we've talked about but, you know, and it can be but perhaps something else that stands out to you as a pivotal kind of moment in your career so far through BSD that has either brought you joy similar to the way Felipe described or has been challenging or specifically rewarding. Well, this year especially, like this is like what I said earlier is like the year I found my voice and I feel like I've been really open with more of my peers and I just, I feel really rewarded this year. I'm like so happy and like I feel like I've got to like do everything and I've balanced my life out really nicely this year and while there was like some like lower points I felt like I got through those times really nicely. Like especially this year, like being a sophomore I like really tried with my rigorous classes and I ended up with high owners so I'm very happy about that. And I've been just trying to strive for like a really, I guess in a sense like perfect but also not perfect so. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I know you talked a little bit about some of the ways that you've lent your voice as a student to various conversations and I wonder if you might share a bit more detail about what it's like to participate on the Superintendent Student Advisory Committee which is such an awesome additional way that your voice is present and also just that immediate interaction that you're able to have with Superintendent Flanagan. When I first joined it was like through some friends and it was through like International Club and with that club initially I felt like, I really felt like myself because I was surrounded by so many people of color and I've never really felt like that so when I was in the Superintendent's it was really similar so then I felt like I actually got to express my feelings as someone like being a person of color and my like problems with student government because like although I liked it as well there was a lot of problems that I felt like needed to be fixed and I think I really got my voice in there and like a lot of student government was really run by like white woman I guess and it's like I really wanted to express like we really need diversity and I think at the start of the year there really was a lot of diversity and then it kind of just got scared out so I think we really need to just bring that back. Awesome. Well both of you clearly share interest in activism is one way to describe what it sounds like you both do a lot of as students and as young community leaders both in your school community and more broadly in your community and we're so grateful to you for doing that and I think something that I've always appreciated and why I'm so especially excited to spend a little bit of time with you both this evening is that students are the heart and soul of our school district. We've got some incredible teachers every one of our teachers and staff and faculty members are incredible as well and really there to respond to and provide the quality education that we aspire as a district to provide to all of our students and so it's especially important to hear directly from students and incorporate student feedback and student experience into everything we do and it sounds like you both have had interesting and different opportunities to do that and that you've sought those opportunities out and I'm so excited to hear that there are opportunities and also that folks are not shying away from problem solving because I think that's ultimately what we're all here to do together in whatever role we hold within the district is problem solved together towards sort of that north star of quality education for every student and so it's exciting to hear some of the ways in which you all have been able to do that. So I know that, let's see, we've talked a little bit about what you all have been up to as students. I wonder if you might wanna share you've got sort of a career transition happening and you are entering 11th grade so you'll be fully halfway through your high school career in a matter of days. I wonder if you both would like to share a little bit about sort of what's next either what you anticipate, what you're looking forward to next, some of what you hope to accomplish in your new role and same questions for you as a junior who is entering junior year with having found her voice and having embraced spaces to lend ideas and make change happen. Yeah, so I am gonna be working at the Summer Regional Justice Academy this summer instead of being a part of it. I'm gonna be facilitating the middle schoolers which get a little rowdy. But I'm really excited for it. I think it's gonna set me up nicely for my BI role next year. I feel like kind of, I don't know, I just turned 18 so I'm definitely pretty young. I think having a little bit more experience and kind of more like strict, strict like you can't do that, like just stop kind of interaction with students, I kind of need more of that. Cause I like my mentorship role at the schools is kind of all about positive reinforcement. Like I don't really talk, I don't really tell the kids to not do something cause we want only positive relationships. So I think that's gonna set me up really nicely. I also, there's a summer camp. I hope maybe I can get a job there, I don't know. But I just really am trying to make as much of a difference as I can over the summer. And then next year at IEA, I really hope I can get that job. I'm so excited. Like I've already had like a lot of conversations with principal, my coworkers in the student support room. And they were like, we want you here. We think you would be a valuable asset. And I like they're all great. I staff are some of the best ever. I love them so much. And the students as well, like I have one student I'm assigned to, but yet I find myself making relationships with everybody. Little kids, they're so cute. Always like, who are you? I'm a mentor, you know? And they're like, wait, can you be my mentor? That's not really how it works. But I'll hang out with you. I'll get you some fidgets or whatever. But yeah, I think I can really make a big difference next year. Like offering mental health support and the support for all these kids. And specifically young boys. I feel like as a young man, the schools kind of failed me. And there are a lot of white women who are like student support and principals at IAA. And so many of them are like, some of the students are young black men. So it's like, where's the representation? So I think I can maybe tap into some of that and offer that support in even a small way. That's awesome. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And I can see so clearly how your experience is rolling directly up to the strategic plan that the district is moving forward. You've both talked about representation from a racial equity perspective, as well as a handful of other things that to me sort of I hear immediately which of the core values within the strategic plan those are connected to that we're moving forward. And absolutely, we I think have a really strong plan in place and committed leaders and students throughout the district to moving that plan forward, which includes diversifying teachers and staff and ensuring that teachers, the adults in the buildings are as diverse as the students in the building. So thank you for contextualizing some of the very real experiences that lend to both positive and negative outcomes for students. And especially for, you know, dialing into that work and thinking about how you can be effective as a change maker in that space, both of you, particularly as it relates to these, you know, big broad goals that we have as a district that we're committed to moving forward with urgency, I should note, it is work that is both timely and also I think everybody agrees that we can't operate in that way of, you know, it takes time, of course change takes time but we do need to move with urgency and I think we are and are supported too. So I'm optimistic about that, yeah. And you, tell me what you're excited about Krishan, both your summer break, what you're getting up to and then what you're looking forward to most next year? Well, mine isn't fully pledged but just getting out there more because I really don't know what I wanna do after high school and I really would like to kind of solidify it now and maybe I won't and that's all right but it's like I really just trying to put myself out there and trying to see what I like because right now I was thinking of doing aerospace or something like that and I think it's cool but it's also like will I be happy? So I'm like I really wanna balance like money but then also like I also wanna be happy in the career I go into so it's balancing. That is such awesome perspective and absolutely I don't think you need any guidance or advice from anyone around you. I think you've nailed it. That balance is essential in life and so I love your approach of, you know, finding ways to experience as much as possible so that you can identify early what it is you think that will truly bring you the most joy and happiness in life and that really is, you know, that's the goal, right? And so thank you for kind of acknowledging that early. You're very wise to do so at such a young age and I think that, you know, the high school and technical center have plenty of those opportunities and hopefully you're finding that and hopefully you will continue to find that throughout your career, that there really are ways to experience a little bit of everything and figure out kind of what is the most exciting path for you to pursue after college. So I hope that your career continues to be diverse and rewarding in that way. Great. Well, I wonder, I'm gonna toss out a completely open-ended question for us to explore together but what haven't we talked about yet that you think might be of interest and this can be like, you know, just casual opportunity to get to know something that generally wouldn't come up in a formal conversation about either one of you or something else that you feel like we haven't talked about and you would just love to share with viewers. I know it's a big, it's a big like, you know, random question to throw out there. I mean, I really like what you said about like mental health and I think after COVID, I think the school really needs to hone in on that because like I remember as a freshman, I don't think I was like really there at school because like I was so disconnected from everybody and like middle school, we did have like little pods but I still felt so disconnected. So then when you're in like freshman year, you kind of stay in that little like group and like that's what I was so scared of was like leaving security and just like going out and then it's also just like helping students with their needs because I feel like during the winter, when there's not a lot of sunlight, that was when I was like really like just sad I guess and it's like I don't feel like I had any support from the school and like I would just like more like, I guess help from teachers and like understanding that some students like really like can't like function as well because like even during this at the end of the school year this year, I felt so burnt out and I was like, I'm trying so hard to do this essay and I communicated with my teacher and he was really understanding. So I just seeing more of that would be really helpful. That's great, thank you. Yeah, it's interesting. I think we were chitchatting a little bit before we got started and just understanding sort of Felipe, your experience as a freshman in our former high school building versus filling out the remainder of your career in downtown Macy's and then Krisha, you entered high school during the lockdown, the year of the lockdown, right? And so have only known downtown BHS effectively and you had mentioned also just at the beginning or while we were chitchatting before we got started that that freshman year was a really kind of different feeling year than this year has been and you alluded to that again with sort of some of the transition that you've made personally and some of the ways in which you've discovered new spaces to be in. I wonder if there are other just to kind of pull on that thread a little bit more, are there any other things that you note that were particularly helpful in supporting you to find ways to reconnect or and also whether it was simply that we are in this downtown facility and everyone's got their feet underneath them and the walls are higher and other things we were chatting about that support sort of a better kind of community experience. I'm curious for your thoughts on both of those things. I think my support just came from joining clubs because I wasn't in any clubs my freshman year and then I was just like, I was very alone I felt like and then when I was joining clubs like I really wanted myself out there so then when I joined international especially like I felt so open, I felt so just welcomed and I really recommend people joining clubs as cliche and like, oh everybody says that but it's like you really should because you do find a sense of community and I really like recommend people who feel alone just to like get in there because I think you'll definitely find someone. Yeah, well and I think the social-emotional connections that you're establishing with peers and doing so both in classrooms as well as in your extracurriculars whether they are clubs or student government or intern whatever it is all of the different ways beyond the academics that you all have opportunities to participate it's so so important and speaks directly to some of the mental health experiences that we know students are having throughout the district. Felipe I'd love to toss it over to you for the last word on that open-ended question. I don't know I mean kind of I guess pulling on like the mental health more I don't know like I have a 504 for my mental health and it was just like very hard to get and it took like four months and it was like within that four months like so much could have happened and I just didn't have that support I don't know but I think like once I had it and once I like made it known to like my teachers and everybody that like you I need to have like whatever and what that was in my plan the support was there definitely and like I don't know I just find a lot of students are like afraid to ask for help a lot of people in general are afraid to ask for help so I guess don't be afraid to ask for help I don't know but it is it is it was really hard to like admit that like I needed a 504 and like I needed support it was it was pretty difficult but after that it was wasn't smooth sailing but you know I got here I'm gonna graduate so yeah well I think I think it can be so empowering once you unlock that opportunity for support and it is a huge deal and very personal and so I can appreciate that taking that very personal experience into your school can be intimidating and I think that's obviously an example of growth on your own part but also really happy to hear that once you were able to advocate for yourself and the school was able to respond to your advocacy that the services were in fact available to you and did support you to have a successful conclusion to the school year but you're absolutely right and that's helpful feedback to hear as well just the time that it can take sometimes to navigate these processes well we are just about at time I wanna echo your public service announcements that each of you embedded into that final question of you know reaching out and engaging in clubs and activities and extracurriculars that are available both as opportunities to explore interest and discover new interests and also as opportunities for connection with other students with peer groups with folks you might not necessarily find yourself in a room with, folks you actually really want to find yourself in a room with all of those are such important and enriching opportunities for students and so I love that you both champion them and thank you so much for raising your hands in all the ways and serving with all of the many hats that you wear. Terrific, well I think we are at time I again just want to thank you both Krisha Felipe so so grateful to have spent the short bit of time with you this evening but I know that our paths will continue to cross hours most immediately in the boardroom and hopefully hours within the summer Racial Justice Academy program this summer. Thanks so much viewers for watching we'll again be sure to share a link you are also able to find us on CCTV's website otherwise I will just note that we are taking a hiatus for the summer and so we will return in September but until then huge thanks to our teachers our staff our faculty and our students for wrapping up another amazing school year we are so grateful to everyone within the district who makes quality public education possible in Burlington thank you see you soon.