Students speak their minds at "Lunch with the Principal"

In order to hear student voices, principal Jennifer Buscher created a new monthly event called “Lunches with the Principal”. Each lunch is on the first Thursday of every month, and it takes place by the north office in room 117.

The lunch is broken into three seven minute segments, with each segment correlating to a question. The first question asks students what they are currently enjoying about school, the second asks what the school needs to improve on and the third asks for students to anonymously mention teachers who are doing an exemplary job. 

“I take all of the student comments and I share those with our entire staff at the staff meetings.” says Principal Jennifer Buscher. “I would be willing to say that the teachers, our staff, also love hearing your perspectives and hearing your voice in our meetings.”

During the first section of the January meeting, students discussed how much they loved the ‘Pictures with Santa and the Grinch’ in the north cafeteria as well as the holiday decor that lined the building in December. In the second section harshly criticized the school’s bathrooms with constant closures, lack of locks, large gaps between doors and generally being unsanitary. Finally in the third section, students praised teachers for exemplary work like supporting student endeavors and being phenomenal educators.

“I hope to continue to improve not only our facilities but really improve and build on the culture of David Douglas,” said Buscher. “My hope is that students are liking this experience and they can give me some insights and perspectives that I don't always see or hear as the principal.”

Students can sign up for these lunches through a link that's sent out to their student email from Student Council on the Mondays before the meetings.

The pizza served at the principal's lunch is from Costco, which is plentiful, and has received high praise from students.