Local Students Speak Highly of Minister's Youth Council Experience

Two students from Red Deer are thankful for the push from their parents to apply to serve on the Minister's Youth Council.

Between October and May the Council of 30 students met several times in Edmonton, offering input into curriculum development to Alberta Education, which included the likes of Education Minister David Eggen.

“Mental health, rural education, welcoming and caring classrooms and learning environments, exposure to current issues and the LGBTQ”.14 year old, grade 9 student 

Liam Lorrain served on the council, he says they were tasked to answer on 5 priority topics.

He says he was eager to press the province in one area.

“My main passion was mainly options and extracurriculars that can enhance your core classes, for example music class studies have shown that it can actually raise your English and math mark by about 15%”.

For Ursella Khan, a 17 year old grade 12 student, diversity is an area she is passionate about, her grandparents are from Pakistan and her parents moved to Canada at a young age.

“Being more inclusive in the curriculum and being more diverse, it’s very Eurocentric right now, and I kind of wanted to change that perspective because Canada and Alberta are so much more than that right now, so getting that into the curriculum would be pretty cool”.

The Council’s work has concluded and the province is actively recruiting for the next council.

It’s an experience both students would recommend to others, Lorrain says it was a great feeling knowing he may be able to evoke change.

“It was really special to most of us because for the first time administrators were actually listening to our opinion and taking notes, because back with the previous government they stuck with what they knew and they never really gave us a chance to speak out”.

Another student from Red Deer, Breagh Mason also served on the Council.