Everyone has heard that children are the future—but these students say they’re the right now, too. A new National Student Council (NSC) program is giving students a voice in education policy.
“A lot of times, adults kind of think they know what teens are thinking, or they think they know what the youth of today feels on certain topics without ever going the extra mile and saying, ‘What do you actually feel about this?’” says Anjali Verma, incoming NSC president.
Anjali (17) is one of 10 officers recently elected by member schools of the National Association of Student Councils to the 2024-25 NSC, which includes students from Texas to Rhode Island.
They will be joined by 25 student representatives to begin their terms this September.
During their time in the program, which will last through June, “They get policy briefings, they get opportunities to speak with media and write up advertisements and use our own internal publications to try to get their voice out into the mix, and then they’ll get to come to Washington, D.C. for an advocacy summit early next year, where we’ll set up a slew of meetings with members of Congress,” says Tyler Dashner, managing director of growth strategy for the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
Seeking a Voice
This NSC program was created by NASSP, a professional organization for middle level and high school leaders that offers peer support, professional development and advocacy.
Previously, the NSC existed in a different form (NASC) but was disbanded. According to Dashner, the old form served more as an internal board advising the NASSP.
But it was an early effort from students to be heard, founded in 1931 by Warren Shull. The high school student made history by hitchhiking from Oklahoma to Los Angeles to meet the president of the National Education Association to convince him to create the National Association of Student Government Officers (NASGO).
NASGO changed its name to NASC in 1940 and came under NASSP stewardship in 1943.
The new National Student Council was re-formed following a 2022 NASSP survey which found that just 11% of students reported that their opinion is represented “a great deal” at the federal level.
The new form is an external facing group meant to elevate student voices to the federal level and will also serve as an advisory board to the NASSP.
“This is a skill-building program for students to learn how federal policy and the legislative process works and how they can effectively advocate for their positions, and how they actually create those positions and come up with the legislative agenda, communicate effectively and build coalitions, et cetera,” Dashner says.
A Promising Future
Though the students are just getting started, the NSC officers have already been able to grow these skills during their three-week campaign period back in the spring. They participated in online town halls, developed their own campaign materials and marketed their policies to their peers.
“We had to film a short, two-minute video about our platform. Then, we wrote a few essays and a statement for schools to read, but other than that, it was very much free reign,”
Anjali says. “I hosted Instagram Lives (live broadcasts to interact with viewers in real time) practically every night.”
“I realized I needed to be very authentic to who I am as a person, as well as who I am as a leader,” she says.
This September, Anjali hopes to start acting on her campaign promises by keeping mental health -related advocacy at the forefront.
“We are working with our best to collaborate with educators, and administrators and school leaders to say, ‘Hey, how can we best support our students?’ Being proactive and not waiting for crisis to happen,” Anjali says.
Anjali, who has been involved in student government since sixth grade, hopes to go on to study the way science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) intersects with community at a four-year university.
