Superintendent Advisory

The Northwest Superintendent Advisory is a group of students who meet with Dr. Buck once a month to discuss school topics from multiple perspectives.

When Dr. Buck sent out an email to all Waukee high school students in September, he highlighted the goal of representing the voice of students of many backgrounds. Each of the advisory’s members brings a different perspective to the table. Students of different hobbies, activities, ethnic backgrounds, and interests meet together as one group to help the superintendent understand what is happening at Northwest. “[Dr. Buck] did a really great job of trying to get people from almost every area of the school to be able to give the voice for people they can represent,” said junior Haley Bryan. 

Each monthly meeting is focused on discussion. For example, one of their meetings was on the topic of advisory. Dr. Buck asked the students for their opinions and they shared what they had observed. “[Advisory] is a topic that is a little interesting when it comes to whether or not it’s effective,” said sophomore Arya Ambardekar. “Right now students aren’t seeing it as the most effective and we are trying to make it as great as we can to help them,” junior Davis Schmidt explained. On February 23rd, students met with Dr. Bishara and Mrs. Streit to go over ways advisory can be improved here at Northwest. 

Ambardekar decided to apply for the advisory because she likes to use her voice. She said, “I feel like I’ve come up with a lot more ideas and found my voice more than I did before this. It’s very interesting to hear other people’s ideas and their thoughts.” Haley Bryan wants to work in business or sports and recreational management and she saw this advisory as a good opportunity to gain experience for when she goes into that field. Bryan explained, “Learning the leadership skills through this advisory I think has helped me in being able to possibly lead a team later in life.” Bryan is passionate about sharing the voices of herself and the people around her. “This was an opportunity to share my voice and my friend’s voices and opinions I hear throughout the school,” she said. 

Talking about school issues from multiple perspectives is a productive way for Dr. Buck to gain more insight into what goes on in both Waukee high schools. Every year the superintendent puts out a survey to find new members for the group. Other issues the advisory thought of include mental health, the benefits of honors classes for sophomores, information about college applications and how to have conversations on topics in History.