DR. BENCHURCHILLSUPERINTENDENT
CARLSBAD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Today’s students are tomorrow’s CEOs, entrepreneurs, politicians, and civic leaders. We must help instill in them the vision and ethics they need to become effective and responsible leaders. It is fortunate that, here in Carlsbad, these young students have many opportunities to get involved in their community and learn from the inside how it works.
I am particularly proud of the exceptional high school students who make up the Student Superintendent Advisory Council (SSAC). These sixteen students bring to the table important current issues, and a valuable perspective on them, at our quarterly meetings. The members of the SSAC recently were named “Inspirational Students of the Month” by education reporter Rory Devine, from NBC 7 San Diego, for making an impact at our schools.
I am equally proud of our Student Representatives to the Board—Taylor Keller from Carlsbad High School, Belle Flanegan from Sage Creek High School (SCHS), and Boden Haber from Carlsbad Seaside Academy. They speak as the students’ voice as important decisions are made at our board meetings.
Also to be congratulated are our Carlsbad Unified Champions–musicians, athletes, actors, and leaders committed to academic achievement. These high school senior ambassadors serve as peer mentors and role models for the younger students of CUSD. They go out to schools to teach about sportsmanship and the importance of making positive choices.
Let me introduce you to just one of our many student leaders, Belle Flanegan. She is a SSAC member, the SCHS Student Representative to the Board, a 2019 Carlsbad Unified Champion—and Miss Honey in SCHS’s production of Matilda. Her Genius Project, “My Life, My Story,” a verbatim-style theater production, was a collaboration with Margaret Hamer, Carlsbad’s Recreation Area Manager, and the Carlsbad Senior Center. Belle interviewed six senior citizens from the Center about their lives, transcribed the interviews, and organized a production in which six SCHS drama students performed the stories for the Senior Center. 
Belle says that, as Student Representative to the Board, she has learned how the school board works. She values her opportunities to report to the Board about what’s happening at her school and, at SSAC discussions with the superintendent, to make suggestions and raise student concerns. She is proud that, “as a Carlsbad Unified Champion during Red Ribbon Week I lead healthy living activities at schools, such as freeze dancing”; and that, “during the Mini-March Madness basketball tournament, I will visit nearly every elementary school to teach kids about good sportsmanship.” Belle also loves spending time with younger kids as a peer mentor. “These experiences are enriching,” Belle says, “and they give me a chance to make a difference.”
Our middle and high school students can choose among many other pathways to leadership. In ASB classes students hone communications skills and organize campus events and fundraisers. They run clubs and other activities on campus and in the community—discovering their passions, finding their individual voices, and looking for ways to change things for the better
In addition, the Carlsbad Educational Foundation’s Student Leadership Council provides leadership opportunities for 45 high school students. The highlight is a public forum called Learning to Lead, with mentors and leaders from the business community, such as Chris Birchby, the founder and CEO of Coola, and Terra Teat, the VP of Marketing for JLab Audio.
Offering another opportunity, the City of Carlsbad sponsors the Carlsbad Student Leadership Academy for high school students. Students tackle issues affecting youth in Carlsbad and learn through civic education, take on community projects, and interact with local city professionals and mentors to develop leadership skills.
“I have the opportunity to work alongside so many talented young students within the CUSD community,” says Rosemary Eshelman, Student Services Specialist. “I have seen the concern for their peers and their community in the work that they do as leaders and role models. They are our future and it is exciting.”