Ohio State Student Leadership Research Collaborative 2022-23

The Ohio State University Student Leadership Research Collaborative Capstone and Research Poster Presentation

Tuesday, May 16th, 2023

Columbus State Community College, Cameron Mitchell Hall Building 250 250 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215

AGENDA:

8:00 am Breakfast Buffet

8:45 am Program Begins

9:00 am School Team Presentations

10:15 am Gallery Walk Poster Presentations

10:45 am Leadership Guest Speaker: Butch Reynolds, Olympic Gold Medalist and Former World Record Holder

11:15 am Student Team /Advisor Recognition Special Recognitions & Program Evaluation

11:45 am Year in Review Music Video

12:15 pm Dr. Keith Bell, Summary and Closing Remarks

Introduction

I have always believed student voice is imperative to both hope and real change. This belief has driven my work as coach, principal, and superintendent in six Ohio school districts. Often, we discovered students wanted a platform to discuss change but didn't know how to go about making these changes into reality.

The current climate of social justice advocacy and energy has been evident in each school especially during the last few years exacerbated by the global pandemic. Students have wanted to talk about their feelings and act and if not given some type of structure, they create their own potentially dividing communities and schools. We believe it is important to be proactive not reactive to this change. The collaborative is an opportunity for school districts to bring students together in an interactive way to positively support these ideas.

The focus of The Ohio State University Student Research Leadership Collaborative is to bring students together from multiple school districts, representing a diverse population of learners that work together in a structured format to produce real change. Student teams of five each in Central, and this year Southern Ohio school districts that began in October, worked together to explore leadership qualities, quantitative/qualitative measurement, and advocacy strategies that are consistent with change. Through support from our collaborative partners, students will become voices of changes for their respective schools and communities.

What makes this project unique is the research component attached to advocacy. Student participants are not only supported in their individual school districts by a staff member but also through resources provided by The Ohio State University, The ESC of Central Ohio, Columbus State Community College and Cleveland State University. Through their hypotheses, students learn leadership skills that are consistent with that of a truly educated young advocate. Today, after collecting and interpreting data, students will present their findings through both a poster and oral presentation and truly a "Celebration Of Learning." In summary the anticipated outcomes for student participants: Leadership * Advocacy * Research

We are excited to bring this opportunity to our students and school districts represented today. We appreciate the work of our support partners in making this happen. Real change begins by authentically educating and supporting young minds!

Dr. Keith M. Bell, Sr. College of Education and Human Ecology

The Ohio State Student Leadership Research Collaborative

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How do we clearly communicate what the school has to offer the student body?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Overall, communication quality is poor within our school. This claim is directly shown by the winning majority percentage of students who voice that communication is poor or that it needs improvement. This is also shown by the overwhelming majority of students who have had negative experiences with communication in Hamilton Township High School.

We have a large number of students that are willing to participate in various extracurricular activities if the quality of communication were to be improved. This correlates with the three line graphs, presenting data from our qualitative ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions.

People who are already involved that also have connections within Hamilton Township High School are more likely to be more informed of the opportunities provided. Those who are less involved in extracurriculars and academic opportunities are less likely to participate in those extracurriculars because the information is unavailable to them. This can be seen on the graph titled “School Communication vs. Third Party,” showing that students are not getting the majority of their information from the announcements or Google Classroom–both major sources of spreading information within our school. Instead of tactics put in place by Hamilton Township High School to inform (announcements, Google Classroom), a majority of students are informed by third parties such as family, friends, individual teachers, and coaches.

Students who are already involved in a large amount of extracurricular activities and academic opportunities have more access to opportunities, and usually have access to them before students who aren’t involved in many extracurricular activities. Furthermore, students who are involved in a large amount of extra curricular activities and academic opportunities are put above students who are not involved in many extracurricular activities and opportunities.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

- Involve teachers and staff as much as possible to maintain a student-staff relationship and keep communication afloat

- Monthly meetings between the clubs to discuss what they are doing within their group

(L-R): Penelope Taylor, Alexandria Williams, Olivia Taylor, Robert Santmire, Jeremiah Hicks, Byron Allgood (Advisor) HamiltonTownshipHighSchool

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How do student-teacher relationships affect student engagement?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

In a recent study, we found that almost 50% of teachers at Westerville South don’t enjoy teaching. Not only does this affect teacher methodology, but decreases student engagement, and student staff relationships. Our goal is to close the gap between these groups, build a more engaged student body, and make sure every student feels as if they have the necessary resources to be successful.

In a student-led survey, we found that almost 60% of students didn’t feel like their peers respected their teachers. Also, more than 30% of students want to feel more connected to their teachers.

We want to implement new activities and ideas to both teachers and students. For students, we want to run more assemblies, that have more fun activities and games. Also, we want to include a huge bulletin (digital or physical) in the lunchroom that holds important information, like where to find different resources, and news.

For our teachers, we would like to implement “office hours” for after school. Students could come in and ask academic questions, which would help boost academic scores and engagement. Lastly, we would like to enact weekly or biweekly tardy sweeps to try to keep kids in class, and decrease skips and tardiness.

Back Row (L-R): Briana Swanson (Advisor), Zoe Guice, Charles Amara, Noor Benlemih, Tyler Heilbrunn Front Row (L-R): Joy Simei, Aaliyah Griffith

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How can we improve career readiness for our students together?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

I sat there in the bleachers during the senior night presentation for football. As many seniors walked across the field their speeches were read. When asked about their future plans, many read, “career path undecided.” This is when we realized that too many students are unaware of their potential options for their future and how to bring their dreams to fruition. We decided to research the perceived career readiness among our student body and alumni. We created surveys to ask current students about career preparedness and their ability to contact their career coach. 81% of freshmen and sophomores indicated they don’t know how to contact their career coach. 80% of seniors displayed they don’t know how to contact their career coach. Roughly half of our student body has indicated they’re uninformed about future career options. Alumni indicated they felt unprepared for their careers and felt that college was often the only option. We hope to work in conjunction with our administration to ensure that students feel informed regarding their future plans after Eastern High School. We aim to solve this problem by hosting a career fair where we bring alumni and successful community members into our school to speak to students. We anticipate that this will encourage students and allow them to be made aware of new opportunities. We also hope to offer life skill classes that will allow for more student engagement and interaction. We desire to build a community of success.

EasternLocalHighSchool

Back Row (L-R): Addison Well, Gunner Gaddis, Cooper Barnett Front Row (L-R): Danielle Epple, Sidney Dillon, Kayla Sellers, (not pictured) Katie Williams (Advisor)

RESEARCH QUESTION:

Why aren’t students prepared with college and career readiness?

Is there a correlation between discipline and college and career readiness?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Ready for the Next Step: Stepping into College and Readiness

Post-pandemic, there has been a dramatic shift towards apathy for both students and educators. This has caused a rise in behavioral referrals, a drop in graduation rates, and inconsistency in student achievement and preparation for post-graduate life. This is shift has set many students back leading them not to be prepared for their life after graduation; it is vital that we make an effort to fix this, so we wanted to know WHY we lack college and career readiness and HOW to fix it. We don’t want our peers to feel like they have no other options other than prison, factories, or entry-level jobs. We want our peers to want more for themselves like we want more for them, and we’ve found that they often just don’t know how. We have options and we should all be aware of them. No one student should ever feel trapped in a cycle. After collecting data via surveys and having conversations with administration, we recommend better communication in getting students engaged in the already-existing activities and resources available.

Whitehall-YearlingHighSchool

Back Row (L-R): Josuee Landin Morales, Jordi Hernandez, Cira Wooden, Saniya Desir, Franklin Ward Front Row (L-R): Kamreen Giles, Zahra Alsuwaiket

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How can school safety be improved at Groveport-Madison High School?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

How to improve school safety at Groveport-Madison High School.

86.2 percent of our school said that they see dangerous behavior all the time throughout the school. Is that really something we should be proud of? No, no it’s not. Groveport should be a safe place for students to come to school and learn, not to stress out if they are going to see fights or weapons, or any sort of violence. I would say that there are on average 2-3 fights a day spread out amongst the school hours. Sometimes they are after school in the parking lots, or even at bus stops. We are trying to prevent the violence because it is going to continue until somebody gets really injured or worse. One thing that you have to know about Groveport is that there is a lot of uneven discipline depending on who the students are. Most of the uneven discipline is with the sports teams because a lot of the teams don’t get in trouble even if they do something wrong.

Groveport-MadisonHighSchool

Back Row (L-R): Melanie Reed (Advisor), Peyton Gibbs, Selin Boztepe, X'Zavier Carter, Ellie Riley, Braylan James, Milani Epps, Alyssa Lohr Front Row (L-R): Amari Harris, My'Ana Yancey, Olivia Gibbs, Ju'el Bentley

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How can we improve our school’s environment so that all students feel connected?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Did you know that a positive school climate is directly related to student’s success? A positive school climate can improve grades, attendance and a student’s overall well-being. Our project, “Improving Our School Environment” focuses on the ways we can create a more positive school climate. We conducted a survey of our student body using google forms. We surveyed 81 freshmen, 57 sophomores, 29 juniors and 21 seniors. We obtained both quantitative and qualitative data. Some key findings were that 28% of 9th and 10th graders are unhappy at our school and 37% of our 9th and 10th graders do not regularly participate or attend extra-curricular activities, clubs, or sports. We also found that 35% of 9th and 10th grade students feel as if they do not have a say in classes, clubs, activities or rules. The problems identified include a need for more academic classes, a need for more clubs, a need for more pep rallies, a need for more mental health resources and also cleaner bathrooms. Our recommendations include; introducing more pep rallies, adding more academic classes and clubs, asking administrators to work on cleaner bathrooms, and host an event for bringing the upcoming 8th graders that are transitioning into being freshmen.

ChesapeakeHighSchool

(L-R): Avonn Booker, Erin Hicks, Mylee Hall, Drew Plantz, Brea McClung (Advisor)

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How can we improve student interaction from lab to lab and from student to admin?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Eastland is a Career Technical school with only a junior and senior class. While it usually does deal with student interactions and school spirit since our school doesn’t exactly run as regular schools do it makes it harder for everybody /student body and admin/ to find something to collaborate everybody in. So the students came together and asked “How can we make student interactions between lab to lab , and from student to admin better?” This question is important because our school is filled with 16 different districts around Columbus. Different backgrounds , different religions , and different people. To collect our data we did a survey and sent it to all of our junior and senior labs. With our data we collected that not all of us are as different as we assumed. 57.1% of our student body understand what focus Fridays are here to achieve based off of our pie charts but with our written responses show the true feelings of our students. Many students do enjoy our focus Fridays where other students are overwhelmed and feel like it’s a waste of time. Some findings we saw was that our class was back and forth on this topic of focus friday.

Eastland Career Center

Back Row (L-R): Unish Pariyar, Hannah Sandlin, Joel Melendez, Holly Griffin (Advisor) Front Row (L-R): ShaNia Haynes, Milicia Henry, Nazrawit Bekele

RESEARCH QUESTION:

What do students and teachers know and feel about student engagement in extracurricular activities?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

90% of students in our school are unaware of all the clubs we have to offer. We want to know how our teachers and students feel about the engagement at our school because there is a lack of student connection and students being actively involved in clubs. Student engagement in extracurriculars has been proven to create positive student behavior, increase self-esteem, and produce social support systems. We used surveys to collect our data and got over 500 responses on our student survey and 55 on our survey to the teachers. This data helped lead us to find that only 10% of the student body recognizes how many extracurriculars we have and 28.3% do not participate in extracurriculars. Also, 55% of teachers do not believe our students are involved and 89% of our teachers believe that involvement in extracurricular activities affects behavior in the classroom. Our goal is to bring awareness to all clubs we offer students and to increase our student connection. This will then increase our attendance rates and ultimately our graduation rates.

(L-R): Lisa Snider (Advisor), Jackson Stimmel, Mylee Boals, Josephene Carrell, Avery Dicken, Javen Gill

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

After a year of fights and disruptions in our education, we realized that students in our high school were not okay. We surveyed our student body: “How has school affected your mental health?” “Is your mental health important to you?” “Where do you feel the most stressed?” We had over 700 responses to our survey. The information was staggering. Our administrator paired us with another small group of students who were working on a similar project, and our combined efforts brought to fruition “Wellness Week,” the first week in May. This week is a pilot as we plan wellness initiatives for next school year. We presented our research and solutions to our CWHS Staff SEL team. We are collaborating on creating a sensory room and hygiene bags for students in need of either as well. We are excited about this work and look forward to continuing it next year.

(L-R): Lydia Tokarz (Advisor), Malea Cobb, Audrey Taft, Gwynn Michael (Not PIctured): Zander Carter, Wani Latio

RESEARCH QUESTION:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

You go to school, you learn, you eat lunch, then you go home and do homework. On repeat every day. Winston Churchill once said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” At New Albany High School, this is our every day, and for most people, they are at school as much as they are at their house. We want to bring our student spirit up because students should want to go to their “second house”, however they feel like they don’t belong. We had more than 400 students answer our survey and 52.5 percent of students don’t participate in school spirit because they just don’t want to. We asked ourselves how can New Albany motivate them to participate and help them genuinely want to be at school? So we asked, and students answered. They said they want variety, more activities, prizes, and making school not just about learning but also fun. We used to have a program called House, which connected students with other students, teachers, and with their community altogether. Our new and improved house creates a collaborative and comforting space for students to be provided with what they need, and time during this period can be spent in receiving academic guidance, school spirit, and giving prizes to the house that participates the most in school spirit, community service, togetherness, and making sure everyone feels like they belong in their second house.

How does the lack of school spirit affect the school environment and student well being?

Back Row (L-R): Geron Tate (Advisor), Miles Jackson, Tom Bohman, Richard Gilchrist Front Row (L-R): Maya Chand, Emma Wingersteller, Jayden Pennyman

What can we do to help our students investigate options for their future?

RESEARCH QUESTION: PROJECT

DESCRIPTION:

Everyone has a tough time thinking about their futures, but our project aims to make it a little easier for St. Charles Students to do so. Our research question is “what can we do to help our students investigate options for their future?” And thus, the Vocational Advisory Board idea was formed. We decided to begin our analysis of the issue by distributing surveys to students and faculty. We asked students questions about how a potential solution would benefit them, so that we would know if this was a problem worth the dedication and effort. We asked staff about previous job experiences that they would be willing to share with the students. We then interviewed theology teacher, Mr. Welsch, concerning a program a similar program he holds in which speakers talk about their careers among other topics concerning mainly economics.

Our survey results indicated that students believed that a lecture or 1-1 meeting with people with field experience in careers interesting to them would be beneficial. We learned that many of our staff members have previous job experiences outside of what they do for us within the St. Charles community, and most are willing to share these experiences with students.

We believe that collecting contact information for a number of individuals with varying career fields that will be accessible by students interested in learning more about paths, such as day to day tasks, education, and opportunities available within a profession.

St.CharlesPreparatorySchool

(L-R): Quincy Andrews, Mr. Thomas Giles (advisor), Aaron Silva, Will Smiley, Nick Scheiwer

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How can advsory be used to benefit students from our schools depending on their grade and needs?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Triple A’s (actions against advisory) – We plan on getting rid of the current program that we have in our advisory (the seven mindsets) and substitute for better lessons that would make sense for the students and their graduating year. For example, for 9th &10th graders, we plan to have lessons on current curriculums, the graduating seals, and how to join clubs and what clubs there are available for students. While for the 11th &12th grade student body, we are planning to have lessons more focused on the real world such as taxes, as well as scholarships and applying for college.

Students want to take actions against advisory. Our research question was how can we make our advisory period beneficial based on different students’ cohort year? How can our advisory period address specific needs that are tailored to that graduating class? This is important because the advisory is 30 minutes long and students have advisory three days in a school week: Monday, Tuesday, and Friday and yet they still believe that it is useless. We collected the opinion and data to support our research question through three google forms: one 9th-10th-grade student form, 11th-12th-student form, and a teacher/staff student form. Our key finding showed that many students want advisory period to become a study hall and many teachers would want to get rid of the seven mindsets and trade it for something more beneficial for their students. We have developed a plan to make one day a study hall while the other two days would focus on lessons and topics depending on the students and teachers grade advisory.

LickingHeightsHighSchool

Back Row (L-R): Mark "Ezra" Bobo, Tellas Babalola, Chiedza Tsikiwa, Boubacar Conde Front Row (L-R): Cerita Todd (Advisor), Salina Chimoriya, Kara Singh

How can we improve our school spirit?

RESEARCH QUESTION: PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

In Reynoldsburg High School there seems to be a growing epidemic. One where students are less willing to attend school, and they lack a sense of pride and belonging in the school. Students found themselves watching as our peers pulled more and more away from school which led us to recognize the lack of school spirit in Reynoldsburg. Seeing this led us to the question, how can we improve our school spirit? To find answers, we sent out a survey to the student body. In a few weeks we had nearly 850 student responses. The results helped support our previous concerns as well as led us to explore some possible solutions. The survey helped us conclude that the majority of our student body felt similar to us as they expressed that they think our school spirit could be improved. We found that some of them said sporting events could help and that the only ones they feel are being pushed are basketball and football. Students replied that they would like other student sports to be recognized as well as student achievement to encourage student participation in our school. To encourage student engagement and increase school spirit we want to create a week to encourage student activity. We would promote clubs, student sports, and activities outside the normal learning environment. The YPAR members would go to classrooms to promote student activities while working with club members and leaders. At the end of the week there would be a Gallery Walk where clubs can present their purpose and have sign up sheets to get them involved. The goal is to increase the pride students have in their schools and create a cycle of school encouragement and involvement.

ReynoldsburghighSchool

Summit Campus (Left) (L-R): Alaina Towns, Sarah Potter, Deepak Kharel, Parker Bennett Livingston Campus (Right) (L-R): Kennedie Ogglesby, D'Asia Perry, Rukeen Nepal, Senai Alem, Braylon Jones

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How do students feel about the mental health resources at Westeville North and how can we give these resources more recognition?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Mental Health Resource Accessibility and Awareness at Westerville North

Do our schools care about their student’s mental health? In our data collection we attempted to figure this out by asking “How do students feel about the mental health resources at Westerville North and how can we give these resources more recognition?” This is an important insight into our study body as every single person has mental health and almost everybody struggles with it. For our data collection we created a survey with several questions and sent it out to advisories within our school, through that we received 149 responses. We found that 54% of students don’t use the resources available, 73.8% of students feel that the school doesn’t provide enough mental health

Mental Health Resource Accessibility and Awareness at Westerville North. Do our schools care about their student’s mental health? In our data collection we attempted to figure this out by asking “How do students feel about the mental health resources at Westerville North and how can we give these resources more recognition?” This is an important insight into our study body as every single person has mental health and almost everybody struggles with it. For our data collection we created a survey with several questions and sent it out to advisories with in our school, through that we received 149 responses. We found that 54% of students don’t use the resources available, 73.8%of students feel that the school doesn’t provide enough mental health resources, and 28.9% of students say that their mental health gets in the way of their daily activities.

Mariah Chaffin, Luayyah Sularian, Ava Hickman, Aurora Bell, Miriam Araya (Advisor)

RESEARCH QUESTION:

Are there schools that produce strong student outcomes with much less achievement culture stress than BHS? If so, what can we learn from them?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Last year's Bexley High School SLRC group identified significant student and staff mental health issues resulting from the highly competitive “achievement culture” in our school. However, they struggled to determine what measures to recommend counteracting this phenomenon. This year we conducted a comparative study with two schools that use nontraditional approaches to teaching and learning yet still have strong student success outcomes. We are hoping to find learning models that yield great student results in a less stressful, more mentally healthy environment. If our research identifies such learning environments, we will recommend further qualitative research about those schools to explore the possibility of importing some of their strategies to our school.

Back Row (L-R): Noah Appling, Masha Shonia, Steve Shapiro (Advisor), Oscar Ramsden, Dylan Ryan Front Row (L-R): Dominic Loucks, Eden Bradley, Sophia Nascimento, Whitney Fahs, Isabelle Stukey, Addie Cahill, Nikolai Vilensky

RESEARCH QUESTION:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

When we first thought about an important issue for our school, we identified a few, such as: fighting and bullying among students, kids disliking school and not wanting to come to school, teachers being unhappy at our school and experiencing a burn-out, and our school’s need for constant monitoring of students, even when they need to use a restroom. Looking at all the issues, we identified mental health to be the most prevalent concern. Before we could give a survey to students on mental health, we met and wrote a short description of what mental health is, since we figured the students at our school probably needed a better understanding what mental health. We then presented to our entire school the definition and description of mental health. After that, we designed 2 surveys on mental health – one for teacher and one – for students. We got about 202 responses (out of 366). We had 13 responses from teachers (a little more than 50%). Here are the key findings: Student Survey: Around 25% of students either can’t stand the school or highly dislike it. Around 40% - feel “Ok”. Only 19% of students feel “good” about school and 10% feel “great” about school. We identified 3 top factors contributing to mental health issues: · Interactions with teachers – 45% · Interactions with students (fighting, bullying) – 28% · Academic Work (too much work) –43% When asked what could help students improve their mental health and feel better, we identified 3 themes: 4. Fun activities (sports, field trips, school dance). Field trips got the most votes (around 80%) 5. Building positive relationships with teachers and having a supportive person at school (24% and 16%) Having better access to mental health services should be a priority.

Mifflin Middle School

Do mental health issues have a negative effect on academic performance and school success overall?

Malachi Lawson, Sa ' Niya Hendricks, Ky 'Mir Rippey, De ' Vonne Turner, Mar'Ionna Hudson, Jesiah Messer Advisors: Liana Sage & Teri Coward Burns

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How does the quality of student-staff relationships at Trimble High School affect one’s sense of belonging in the Trimble community?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Understanding the Sense of Belonging of Students and Staff at Trimble High School.

The building of rapport and community among students and staff in schools is essential to the learning environment. Those that have a strong sense of community and solid relationships between students and staff are more likely to see engagement and success in and out of the classroom.

Our research question was how does the quality of student-staff relationships at Trimble High School affect one’s sense of belonging in the Trimble community. By understanding the current level of relationships between students and staff and their sense of belonging, we would be able to discover a correlation between the two. Thus, we could develop a strategy to increase the sense of belonging through improving student-staff relationships at Trimble High School.

Data was collected by sending two surveys out to students and staff at Trimble High School. Anonymous surveys directed toward staff were sent via email while student surveys were distributed via Google Classroom during the students’ PAWS class period. Students were encouraged to complete the surveys promptly by announcing that the first three PAWS classes that completed the survey would receive a pizza party. We received 19 responses from staff and 145 responses from students.

The surveys concluded that staff feel a higher sense of belonging than students and as a result are less involved and engaged in the Trimble community. Students and staff were asked in their surveys to respond with ways in which they believed relationships and community building might improve in the school community. Data displayed that the most preferred ways of doing so would be to 1) develop more school-wide activities that integrate students and teachers together in order to create rapport outside of the classroom and 2) regularly schedule pep rallies and incentive days to boost morale; at least one per quarter.

(L-R): Ethan Skinner, Levi Weber, Tiffany Brock (Advisor), Katelynn Coey, Faith Handley, Isaiah McCown (Not Pictured)

RESEARCH QUESTION:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Most students feel teachers within our school are only there for the paycheck. The tension between most students and teachers within Fairfield career center has been intense and steadily increasing as the year comes to an end. Most students feel as though they are not connected with their teachers and that it causes a lack of motivation in their classes. In order to properly assess the problems within the school and find the root of these motivation and relationship issues, we sent out a mandatory survey to the juniors and seniors at Fairfield. The data showed a unified answer that proved that students do not feel motivated or connected to their teachers. They felt as though the classes were not engaging and as that they were just going through the motions of teaching their classes. We asked students what the school could provide in order to feel more motivated to do their work. The most overwhelming response, with 57.9% of students, was to have more dress down days. Student’s feel most like themselves when they are dressed in their own clothing and feel more motivated when they wear what they want. We propose that the school board allot more days for our school to dress down, possibly having enough days to have a dress down every other week or so.

Fairfield Career Center

Are there schools that produce strong student outcomes with much less achievement culture stress than BHS? If so, what can we learn from them?

Back Row (L-R): Massar Yade, Zane Woodard, Aubree Williams, Domonic Jones, Dakia Washington (Advisor) Front Row (L-R): Sandra Kome, Alyssa Valentine

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: OlentangyHighSchool

Through growing up in the Olentangy District, we have recognized the stigma surrounding mental health inhibiting students from speaking up about the state of their mental health. Our goal is to educate and empower students to open up about the state of their well being and encourage them to ask for help. We distributed surveys to both staff and students and overall found an immense need to improve students' mental health. Our ultimate aim of this research project is to make a lasting impact on the quality of life of Olentangy students.

Back Row (L-R): Durga Karthik, London Michel, Nishita Sharma

Front Row (L-R): Precious Okoafor, Nana Amma, Heather Cole (Advisor) (Not Pictured)

RESEARCH QUESTION:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Collaborative Leadership Speakers

Ms. Jordan Davis, CEO Smart Columbus

Mr. Butch Reynolds, Olympic Gold Medalist, Former World Record Holder

Mr. Clark Kellogg, CBS Sports, Former NBA, and OSU Basketball

Mr. Jim Cleamons, OSU, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, NBA Champion

Mr. Warren Moon, NFL/CFL Hall of Fame Quarterback/Founder Crescent Moon Foundation

Ms. Erin Gruwell, Movie & Top Ten Best Selling Book “The Freedom Writers”

Mr. Harvey Alston, National Student Leadership Speaker and Author of “Be The Best”

Ms. Glennon Sweeny, OSU Kirwan Institute for The Study of Race and Ethnicity

Mr. Curt Moody, CEO Moody/Nolan Architecture

Ms. Karianne Strout, Senior General Manager, Lifetime Fitness

Mr. Perry Jefferies, President of Diamond Equity Advisors LLC

Ms. Kelly Snyder, Leadership Mentor

Ms. Ashley Paul, Content Contributor/Feminist Book Club

Collaborative Partners

Ohio State University – College of Education and Human Ecology

Cleveland State University Department of Urban Education

Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools (CORAS) Educational Service Centers of Central, Southeast and Northeast Ohio

The Kirwan Institute for The Study of Race and Ethnicity @ The Ohio State University

The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation

Columbus State Community College

Ohio High School Athletic Association

UXO Sports

Phil Mallott Family Foundation

Moody Nolan Architecture

Jostens

U.S. Department of Education

McGraw Hill

Veregy Energy Services

P2i foundation and NYNE Global

Student Leadership Research Collaborative Presentations

The Ohio State University Quantitative Methodologies Conference

State of Ohio ACT Conference

Coalition of Appalachian Schools Conference META Solutions Conference

The Ohio State University, National Conference on Race, Diversity and Learning Ohio School Boards Association

Educational Service Center of Southeast Ohio

Jostens Renaissance National Conference

Student Leadership Research Collaborative Instructional Support Team

Dr. Keith M. Bell, the originator, director and facilitator of THE Ohio State Student Leadership Research Collaborative (OSU SLRC) and Director of Leadership Services for the Educational Service Center (ESC) of Northeast Ohio. Prior to joining the ESC, Dr. Bell served as Superintendent of the Euclid City School District. Currently, he works with Cleveland State University as an Instructional design leader for SchYPAR (School Based YPAR) and the University of Cincinnati as an Advancing Inclusive Principal Leadership Coach (AIPL Ohio).

Prior to that time, Dr. Bell was the Deputy Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer for Columbus City Schools. He also served as the Secondary Director/Academic Affairs and Principal at Westerville City Schools. From 2000-2004, Dr. Bell was Principal of Groveport Madison Local Schools and from 1993-2000, he was Assistant Principal at Gahanna Jefferson Public Schools. He began his career in education as a marketing education high school teacher and basketball coach at South-Western City Schools.

Dr. Bell has been a presenter at national conferences including: the Council of Great City Schools, American Education Research Association Higher Education, AASA Superintendent’s Association, National Jostens Renaissance, and Ohio State University, Graduate School and College of Education and Human Ecology.

Dr. Bell is a member of the American Education Research Association, (AASA) Superintendents Association. He has been inducted into four Halls of Fame–Woodward High School, Defiance College, Jump 25 Basketball and Jostens Renaissance.

Dr. Adam Voight is Director of the Center for Urban Education at Cleveland State University where he partners with urban schools, communities, and youth to create environments conducive to the learning and well-being of young people, particularly those affected by poverty and racism. Adam’s community-engaged research and action has been supported by organizations such as the U.S. Department of Education and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adam has a Ph.D. in Community Psychology from Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.

Elizabeth Benninger is a postdoctoral research fellow for the Cleveland Alliance for Education Research (CAER) through the Center for Urban Education and a Psychology Instructor at Cleveland State University. Her research interests include the study of children’s well-being, health disparities, participatory research approaches, and community health promotion. Elizabeth additionally focuses on national and international collaborations with educational and governmental institutions and non-profit and nongovernmental organizations, which specifically focus on improving the well-being of children and families within communities experiencing high levels of poverty and violence. She obtained her doctoral degree in psychology from the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa.

Harvey Alston has based his philosophy on being the Best and his book titled "Be the Best." He is the Coordinator for the Ohio High School Athletic AssociationStudent Leadership Conference (the Largest in the Country), serves on the advisory board to the National Federation of High Schools- NSLS, the Upper Valley Joint Vocational School. He is a contributing writer and photographer for the N2 Publishing Monthly Magazines, member of the National Speakers Association, and many civic boards, panels, and commissions.

Akii Butler is a Communications Associate at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Ohio Council 8 and Communications Manager for Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change. He has experience in editing, writing, social media, public relations, grassroots organizing and community action. Akii earned his B.S. in Journalism from Kent State University in 2019. He worked with FRSLI and OSU SLRC students this year on the topics of community action and organizing.

Xiaona Jin is a research assistant at the Center for Urban Education. She earned her Master of Arts in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Yangzhou University in

China and is a fourth-year student the Urban Education doctoral program at Cleveland State University. Ms. Jin's research interests include school climate, Chinese language teaching and learning, online teaching and learning. She has worked in the education field in both China and the U.S. as a college Chinese instructor, international culture exchange program manager, and pre-K Chinese teacher

Wendy Jovan manages the operations of the First Ring Student Leadership Institute. Her previous work in education was as the Project Manager for a virtual intervention program, and as a Special Education Supervisor and School Psychologist. Prior to that she worked in the business community as a Research Analyst. Wendy completed her Psy.S.in School Psychology at Cleveland State University.

Dr. Bill Wagner holds a Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Ashland University, a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Ashland University and a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Ohio University. He was selected as the 2012 NAASP/ MetLife Ohio High School Principal of the Year, the 2015 Ohio Music Education Association Administrator of the Year, and is an adjunct professor for Baldwin Wallace University and Cleveland State University.

Dr. Wagner retired after 33 years of demonstrated success in various teaching and administrative positions in education, finishing his career as Superintendent of the Fairview Park City Schools from 2014-2021. Previously, he was Director of Human Resources for the Lakewood City Schools, Principal at Lakewood High School, Principal of Clearview Jr./ Sr. High School and Dean of Students at Lorain High School. He taught chemistry and physical science as a classroom teacher.

Wendy Jovan manages the operations of the First Ring Student Leadership Institute. Her previous work in education was as the Project Manager for a virtual intervention program, and as a Special Education Supervisor and School Psychologist. Prior to that she worked in the business community as a Research Analyst. Wendy completed her Psy.S.in School Psychology at Cleveland State University.

Special Thanks

Dr. Tom Goodney, Superintendent, Educational Service Center of Central Ohio

Mohamed Elsayed - Educational Service Center of Central Ohio (MVT Most Valuable Tech!)

Michelle Savage - Educational Service Center of Central Ohio, Administrative Assistant

Dr. Dustin Miller - The Ohio State University

Dr. Donald Pope-Davis - The Ohio State University, Dean College of Education

Dr. Noelle Arnold - The Ohio State University, Senior Associate Dean

Dr. Nicole Luthy - The Ohio State University, Chief of Staff and Strategic Operations

Ms. Stephanie Warner - Education Service Center of Central Ohio, Regional School Improvement Coordinator

Mr. David Varda - Educational Service Center of Central Ohio, Treasurer ESC of Central Ohio Communications Team – Joe Weitz, Matt Goodwin, Lauren Walker, Ellie Asher

Leadership Speaker Butch Reynolds

Harold "Butch" Reynolds, was a 400-meter runner who ran at the 1988 and 1996 Olympics, winning a silver medal in the 400 in 1988 and a gold medal that year in the 4x400 relay. Reynolds was a three-time gold medalist in the 4x4 at the World Championships, helping US teams win in 1987, 1993, and 1995. He also won silver medals in the 400 at the Worlds in 1993 and 1995 and a bronze in 1987, and added a gold medal in the 400 at the 1993 World Indoor Championships.

In August 1988 Reynolds ran 400 meters in 43.29 for a world record, finally bettering Lee Evans’ famed 400-world record from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. In 1990 he was suspended for alleged drug use by the IAAF and fought that in courts for almost two years, with the battle going to the US Supreme Court, who declared him eligible to compete at the 1992 Olympic Trials. He made the relay team for the 1992 Olympics but the IAAF would not allow him to run at the Olympics. He later won a libel suit against the IAAF in US courts, but the IAAF refused to recognize that verdict and it was eventually overturned on appeal.

Reynolds attended The Ohio State University, where he was NCAA Champion in the 400 in 1987. He went into coaching, serving as the speed coach for the Buckeyes football team, and then became a sprint coach at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus. Reynolds was elected to the US Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2016.

Personal Best: 400 – 43.29 (1988).

Success Is Measured By "Repeated Failure, Without Losing Your Enthusiasm"

-Winston Churchill