State Student Advisory Council

The 2023 - 2024 Walpole Representative to SERSAC

Diza G.

What is the State Student Advisory Council?

The SSAC is a group of students elected by their peers from schools throughout Massachusetts who are helping make decisions about state educational policy and student rights. These students are initiating and carrying through projects to make changes in local schools.
SSAC is composed of five Regional Councils and the State Council. According to state mandate, every secondary school must elect two delegates to a Regional SAC. Each Regional Council elects eight (Greater Boston elects twelve) members to the State SAC. The State SAC has its own projects, but also helps coordinate those of the Regional SACs. The SSAC serves as a communication network to share educational information among all students.
The student Chairperson of the State SAC serves as a full voting member of the Massachusetts Board of Education.
The chairperson represents the needs and the ideas of all students in Massachusetts and is a communication link from the Board to the SSAC. To facilitate education, students must be thought of as participants in, not merely recipients of, the educational process.

(Taken from the Student Advisory Council Website)

For more information about the State Student Advisory Council please visit: http://www.doe.mass.edu/sac/

What is the purpose of the SSAC?

Students want to have a say in decisions made about their education. America's democratic system is rooted in the belief that all citizens who are affected by the system have a voice. The SSAC communicates student views to those who make decisions about education.
Schools need students with leadership skills. The SSAC gives students leadership training and experience to fill this need.

How did the SSAC get started?

The SSAC was established by the Massachusetts State Legislature with Chapter 1009 of the Acts of 1971 as one of the first organizations to provide for direct student involvement in statewide decision-making in education. Then Governor Francis W. Sargent filed this legislation stating, "If we are to replace confrontation with deliberation and shouting with dialogue, youth must be invited in, not shut out. We have ... a climate where young and old can sit together, talk, and listen." Through students' voices, as represented on the Board of Education, Massachusetts has displayed the value it places on student involvement in the educational decision making process.

State Student Advisory Council Roles & Responsibilities

All SSAC Members

The responsibilities and time commitments of SSAC Delegates and 1st Alternates are as follows:

Represent the concerns of your region at the SSAC meetings;
Assist the RSAC chairs in planning and running regional meetings;
Actively participate in council activities;
Complete tasks between scheduled meetings;
Attendance at SSAC orientation meetings (May-June) 2 days;
Attendance at leadership training (summer) 3 days;
Attendance at bi- monthly RSAC meetings in the region (Oct - April) 4 days; and
Attendance at bi-monthly SSAC meetings in Malden (Sept - May) 5 days

The 2021 - 2022 Walpole Representatives to SERSAC

Diza G.

Sameera M.

The 2020 - 2021 Walpole Representatives to SERSAC

Grace R.

Sameera M.

Brendan M.

"This year I was an alternate representative to SERSAC. Because of the pandemic, the scheduling changed a bit for this year with us being virtual and having meetings every month rather than bimonthly, but it was still such an amazing experience. The leadership did a great job to keep the meetings fun and allow the representatives to get to know each other despite it being virtual. I was a member of the virtual learning group where we focused on being the voices of the students of our schools and all schools in Massachusetts who experienced virtual or hybrid learning this year. We met in breakout rooms during the meetings and sent out a survey to our schools. Some questions included asking about the amount of homework, productivity level in school versus in person, mental health, any recommendations, and many more. My workgroup used this data to come up with recommendations for the future and create a presentation with both graphs to show the data and the recommendations. My experience in the Student Advisory Council was very meaningful because I feel I made a difference for Massachusetts as a whole as well as representing the voices of my peers in the midst of a pandemic. I look forward to another great experience next year!"

Grace R.

This year, I was the chair of the diversity and inclusion group for SERSAC. Within this group, we did a lot of research pertaining to issues in schools revolving around a lack of diversity and inclusion in specific areas of schools. Some of these included history and English curricula, handling discrimination in schools, and organizations within schools, to name a few. Once this research was completed, we compiled these issues and more into a slideshow, which offered solutions to these issues, and how to implement them into schools. This presentation was presented to and approved by DESE, and is meant to serve as a resource for schools across the state. I am very grateful for my experience as chair of this group, as I was able to learn a lot about inclusion and diversity, and I am even more grateful that I was lucky enough to be a part of a group that could create a resource to help so many people across the Commonwealth.

Brendan M.

The 2019 - 2020 Walpole Representative to SERSAC

Brendan M.

"In the Spring of 2019, I was selected to join the Southeast Regional Student Advisory Council to the Massachusetts Board of Education. That year, as Communications Coordinator of my group, I led my workgroup focusing on school climate. We studied the “Views of Climate and Learning” (VOCAL) Data, which is a survey conducted on tenth grade MCAS in May of 2019 that asked how “safe” and “welcome” students felt at school. After evaluating the data, my group was able to create a pamphlet that describes the role each person in the school (i.e. Principal) has in making all students feel emotionally safe and accepted at school. This pamphlet also added specific information about how to make isolated groups of students feel more included at school. The pamphlet was approved by the Board of Education and distributed to schools across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. My experience last year in the School Climate group was particularly meaningful to me because I feel as though I impacted positive change to help students feel more secure at schools across Massachusetts. I hope to continue to influence change in my new Student Advisory Council workgroup this year."

Brendan M.

The 2018 - 2019 Walpole Representatives to SERSAC

Deepika P. and Melania S.

"For the past year I served as Leadership for SERSAC (Southeast Regional Student Advisory Council) and was in the School Climate Workgroup, I also was a State Delegate for SSAC (State Student Advisory Council) and was a part of the School Climate Workgroup at the state level.

In this workgroup we analyzed the VOCAL Survey data for our respective high schools, which is a survey taken by students after MCAS in 10th grade to assess various aspects of a school environment. I conducted focus groups at Walpole High School with students as well as doing analysis of the data on my own before sharing out my findings at state meetings. At the end of the year we produced a blurb about strengths and weaknesses for schools across the Commonwealth that will be on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. At the regional level (in SERSAC) we conducted a similar project that was more focused on that region of our state.

Overall, Student Advisory Council was a place where I met so many amazing intelligent people, and got to actually voice my opinions as a student for adults who work for the state education system to hear. Not only do I feel that I made a difference, but I had a lot of fun along the way."

Melania S.

The 2017 - 2018 Walpole Representatives to SERSAC

Emily B., Deepika P., & Brynne B.

"My name is Brynne and I am currently a senior at Walpole High. This was my second year on the South Eastern Regional Student Advisory Council (SERSAC). During my first year of SERSAC, I was a part of the student involvement group and I held the position of Workgroup Chair. We made a brochure that outlines the importance of student involvement in high school. This year, I was a part of the environmental group. We researched how schools could better help the environment, and we made a presentation that represented our research. I believe that SERSAC was an enriching experience. I got the opportunity to make changes in schools across the state, and I made many friends along the way. I wish I had another year of student advisory council!"

Brynne B.

"My name is Emily and I am a senior this year at Walpole High School. It was an amazing experience serving on the South Eastern Regional Student Advisory Council for the past two years with Brynne and this year with Kiki. Through my involvement, I have been able to actively advocate for changes that the students want and see visible change. Our council works to create change and bring our ideas to the State Board of Education, which is an incredible honor. This year, my group worked to find ways for our schools to be more environmentally friendly. We came up with a list of both inexpensive as well as cheap and easy methods to promote environmentally-friendly mindsets for schools. We compiled our list into a power point to share with our schools. SERSAC is an amazing way to bring changes to the school community and I have truly enjoyed my experiences as well as the people I have met throughout the past two years."

Emily B.

"My name is Deepika, and I am currently a Junior at Walpole High School as well as a member of the 2017-2018 SERSAC, the South Eastern Regional Student Advisory Council. As any other average teenage high school student, I wondered why we, students, are required by law to go to school, but our complaints and issues that are affecting us are not voiced. While students complain to others of the changes the school needs, we are not given the connection to channel our feedback to more powerful people to initiate change and bring awareness to schools. SERSAC, however, brought a whole different understanding of the value of students to the educational community. Students from across the region came together as a unit to discuss issues, ideas, and plans to bring to the board of education. The coordinators of SERSAC had helped us bring ideas to light and were very respectful and kind. I had the chance to meet many different students, be valued of my opinions as to how to solve issues, eat some tasty snacks, learn leadership and communication skills, and most importantly, I, enjoyed it. We, students, through SERSAC, were given a voice and had the honor of representing our school while also being able to express ourselves to everyone around us."

Deepika P.

2016 - 2017 Walpole Representatives to SERSAC

Emily B. & Brynne B.

"My name is Emily and I am a Junior at the high school. I am the Communicative Coordinator for the Student Involvement group at SERSAC which means that I keep all the minutes for each meeting and write down our schedule as well as our group's plan of action. SERSAC stands for South Eastern Regional Student Advisory Council and as members we act as a voice from the student body to the State Board of Education in important matters. Our group is focused on student involvement and we plan to make a brochure that will describe the role of student participation, how you can get involved, and why it helps in the long run! I joined SERSAC because I saw how my friend Katie H., who was on the Council last year, was able to voice her opinion as a student in making changes to the public school system. What I like most about SERSAC is not only that I get to have a say in important decisions, but I get to listen to other people's experiences at schools all across our region. I've also made a ton of friends through this program!"

Emily B.

"My name is Brynne and I am currently a junior at Walpole High. This is my first year on the South Eastern Regional Student Advisory Council (SERSAC). I applied for the position in the spring of last year after being encouraged by the seniors who held the position last year. At SERSAC, I am a part of the student involvement group and I currently hold the position of Workgroup Chair. This means I lead our group and I make sure that everything gets done in regards to our project. Our project this year is to make a brochure that outlines the importance of student involvement in high school. So far I have had a great time participating in this group. I am able to voice my opinion on statewide matters and meet new people while I use my leadership skills to make change."

Brynne B.

2015 - 2016 Walpole Representatives to SSAC

Katie H. & Sarika P.

2014 - 2015 Walpole Representatives to SSAC

Andie P. & Katie H.

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