At the last Board Meeting in Tacoma, Student Board Member Autymn Wilde presented about the kinds of supports students need and how she hopes her work on the Board will help students in the future. 

Autuymn focused on support for students experiencing chronic absenteeism, students pursuing a 504 plan (often used in special education), and discussed the need for more student and parent awareness for resources that could help. 

She surveyed her peers and asked how their emotional needs were being met when faced with missing school due to trauma. Some of her responders admitted feeling and experiencing: 

• Lowered grades
• No true knowledge retained
• Socially isolated
• Worsened anxiety
• Fear of being seen as ‘lesser than’ or ‘weak’
• Unable to fully recover

"I’m still just a kid, my term ends in May, and I really want to see this work move forward and past myself, I want this to be my legacy of sorts," she said after urging education stakeholders to consider more outreach to students in need of assistance.

Find a PDF version of Autymn's full presentation given at the March 11-12 Board Meeting in Tacoma and the video capture on the right via YouTube.