The following was written by Ruzanna Hernandez, Ed.D., assistant principal at Fontana Adult School.

In the private sector, a customer’s voice matters and makes an impact upon the organization. For instance, if a retail store is seeing a need to stay open later because of customer demand, a change takes place. This is how the company keeps its customers. In education, particularly public education, our “customers” are our students and their voices must be heard. One of the best ways to address this is by promoting various student leadership teams or structures on campus. This is exactly what we have done at Fontana Adult School, a 2,675-student adult program in the Fontana Unified School District.  On a typical day, students in Fontana Adult School’s Student Leadership Team are seen helping with various projects and tasks around campus. They are helping teachers, tutoring students, assisting new and returning students with registration, and helping the administrative team with events. The team is composed of 32 students who help in a variety of capacities depending on their strengths and goals.  The Student Leadership Team at Fontana Adult School has made a huge impact on our success as a school in the past few years. The two most important contributions the group has made are the outreach efforts to inform the community about the school, and the increase in school spirit to help make it a second home for many of our adults on campus.  “This school means so much to me and I want to give back,” said one student, Rosa Castillo. “It has given me a sense of purpose.”  Creating and sustaining a student leadership team that has a strong voice is difficult to achieve, and rare in adult education. Fontana Adult School’s administrative team hopes to set an example that can be followed by others. Amazing things can happen with strong student involvement and voice at a school site, such as: 

• You will build a much better school climate and culture by having students’ voices heard.
• There will be better student advocacy and school promotion in your community and city.
• Your school will be valued by parents and community organizations because of your willingness to listen to students’ voice and respond to their needs. 
• Your school site is building capacity by having students serve as leaders and volunteers on campus. 
• Student achievement will rise, as school engagement is often linked with student achievement. 
• When it’s WASC accreditation time, you will have no problem showing you have a student voice in decision-making.

The students are not only helping the school but also helping themselves by learning leadership skills they can carry on in their personal and professional lives:

• Students will develop college and career readiness skills by serving on leadership and volunteer teams.
• For those who are applying to universities, they will show they are involved in extra-curricular activities by serving as volunteers or in various committees. 
• The work the students do can help them with résumé-building skills and activities to become more employable in the future.
• Students will be exposed to skills and knowledge beyond what they do in their classrooms. 
• Being involved and volunteering at school will help students be involved as adults in their everyday lives and help them become altruistic individuals.

“Being in Leadership helped me build confidence. It has made a huge difference for me,” said student Steven Stewart. “I find it easier to communicate with others, talk and interact.” Students are valuable stakeholders. We have to hear them out even when it’s uncomfortable. We have to receive their input and feedback and help them help us to promote our schools and programs.  One of the best lessons I learned from writing my doctoral dissertation a few years ago on parent volunteerism at the high school level was the power of asking. One of my interviewees said to me, “If you ask 10 people to help or to serve as volunteers, perhaps three would say they can’t, but seven will say they can. You just have to ask directly.” Let’s ask for student voice and response, and let’s promote their involvement and volunteerism at our school sites — especially at adult schools.