By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Morgan County High School Senior Kayla McGhee has been named to a statewide council to advise Dr. John D. Barge, Georgia State School Superintendent.
As a member of the 2012-2013 Student Advisory Council, McGhee and the other 49 students will advise Barge on how state policies impact students in the classroom.
Council members also will discuss other education-related issues and serve as ambassadors in their schools.
“The Student Advisory Council allows me to hear directly from students in our schools and discuss major initiatives with them,” Barge shared via press release. “The Council also gives students the opportunity to share with me their ideas and concerns, which we can use to shape future state policies.”
More than 750 students from 121 districts applied to be on the council and answered essay questions. Members were chosen by a committee of Georgia Department of Education representatives.
A couple of things prompted McGhee to apply for this responsibility.
“It would be a good experience,” she said. “It’s a way to be involved.”
McGhee said her essay question asked her to consider a distraction present in her school and a way to make it better.
“I wrote that most students want to be there to learn and some students are just distractions,” she said. “An alternative school for those students that don’t want to be there would help.”
McGhee has been a member of the MCHS Marching Band Color Guard all four years of high school. This year she serves as the Color Guard Captain.
A member of the National Honor Society and Health Occupations Students of America, she also participates in dual-enrollment in English through Georgia Piedmont Technical College.
“I want to major in health care administration,” she said, adding that she plans to apply to the University of Georgia.
The council meets two times a year: Nov. 28 and March 11. The November meeting will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the State Department of Education offices in Atlanta.

Printed in the November 22, 2012 edition