In the midst of election season, freshman students had the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights. Assistant Principal Mr. David Miller held Schreiber’s first town hall style meeting in the Commons on Nov. 9 in order to receive input from students.

“It’s important to me to develop a good relationship with my students,” said Mr. Miller. “I would like to foster an environment of openness and communication. I don’t think my school administrators cared what I thought. We need to let kids know that we care what they think.”

Mr. Miller posted flyers informing when and where the “town hall” would occur. About 50 freshmen attended the meeting. Students sat in groups at tables, and Mr. Miller and students exchanged questions and responses. Students discussed various topics, including the effects of Hurricane Sandy, prices going up in the vending machines, and the differences between Weber and Schreiber.

Students also asked if the end of the first quarter would be pushed back, due to lost school days as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Mr. Miller felt that pushing the quarter back would confuse and complicate grading. Because the first quarter counts as only 20% of the final grade, students also felt it wouldn’t make sense.

Mr. Miller also voiced his opinion in saying that he was not sure whether school days would be made up in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, but he thought it was a possibility that school days might not have to be made up because of a new law.

The consensus of the group was that compared to Weber, Schreiber classes consist more of lectures than class discussions. Students had mixed feelings about which teaching style they preferred.

Although turnout was not as high as he had hoped, Mr. Miller expressed his satisfaction with the town hall meeting concept.

“We plan to hold another town hall meeting towards the Christmas break,” said Mr. Miller.

Students also enjoyed the meeting.

“It was more personal,” said freshman Danny Devlin. “It gave more attention to the individual.”

Students interested in attending future town hall meetings should listen for announcements on the loudspeaker in the morning, from their teachers or from Mr. Miller.