Sophomore Parth Patel gazes out the window of Julie Swartzloff’s second hour Spanish class. The windows face the courtyard, which stands silent and empty.
Plants grow rampantly. A bench in the northwest corner is completely engulfed by the scraggly weeds. Patel has made it his goal to change this scene.
“Most other schools have beautiful, maintained courtyards,” said Patel. “I want [ours] to look nicer.”
At one point in Huntley High School’s history, the courtyard was open during lunch hours so students could relax and enjoy the outdoors, but the privilege was revoked because of the trash students left behind.
Patel wants to revive and revamp lunches in the courtyard.
“It’s time for some changes,” said Patel.
Patel recently proposed a petition to Principal Dave Johnson and is working to collect signatures from students in favor of the lunchtime scenery change.
Along with being able to eat lunch outside, Patel wants to beautify and maintain the courtyard, which is dedicated to R. J. Panek, a Huntley student who passed away due to heart failure in his sophomore year.
Patel is currently working with junior Kora Rea to talk to teachers with rooms located near the courtyard about the petition.
“The main concerns [we have] are noise pollution and avoiding distractions,” said Patel.
Although the teachers may still need some convincing, students are widely in favor of the idea. There are currently over 1,100 members in the Huntley Courtyard Lunch group on Facebook.
Patel’s lunchtime petition is only one of a recent trend of student-proposed petitions.
When Spencer Bingham realized last year that Renee Fowler, a long-term substitute for teachers on maternity leave, was an effective and incredibly beneficial teacher, he knew that she would make a perfect full-time teacher at HHS.
His mother encouraged him to take action, so he created a cover letter, collected signatures, and proposed his idea to Fowler, Principal Dave Johnson, and Shandon Nixon, head of the Social Studies department. He also presented his idea at a Committee of the Whole meeting during the public comments section of a Board of Education meeting.
“I think that the district is good with having good teachers,” said Bingham. “I wanted to improve my education and the education of others.”
Bingham’s idea came to fruition, and Fowler was hired as a General Constitution teacher.
Both Patel and Bingham’s proactive petitions are examples of some of the ways students can advocate for positive changes at HHS.
“When you’re passionate about something, nothing seems out of reach,” said Bingham.
