September meetings

Over the first five weeks of school, the Senate has met a number of times to set agenda, facilate the election of ninth-grade representatives, and begin work on some old and new business.  Our first meetings were dominated by discussion of changes in schedule and student priveleges.  While no resolutions came out of those discussions, student perspective was heard and carried to the faculty through Mr. Peters.  Additionally, student concerns over the loss of breakfast service and senior lunch priveleges resulted in the House System breakfast sale (which today made it's first small profit) and an ongoing conversation with Dean Newman about modifications to the lunch policy. 

Over our last two meetings, Friday 9.17 and Tuesday 9.21, the Senate has made significant progress on the Integrity Code.  A minor change resulted in the current draft, no.7, below: 
       
          As a member of the Hawken community,
          I am a person of character.
          I believe in fair play.
          Therefore, my words and actions reflect my character.
          I will not lie, cheat, or steal.
          I respect the rights, work, dignity and ideas of all.

While the Senate is in broad agreement about this draft, we hope to engage the community extensively before officially ratifying this code as Hawken's statement of what integrity means.  Our next step is to invite student leaders (Student Senators, HIC members, House Leaders, Peer Leaders, and Team Captains) to a meeting Wednesday 9.29 at 8:00 in the White House, when we will broaden the conversation to include this wider group and secure additional student investment.  A significant portion of today's meeting was dedicated to discussing the best format for the community-wide presentation of this work.  Student senators were almost unanimously skeptical about the efficacy of advisory discussion of this code; we will explore other options, including a series of house meetings, or perhaps lunch or breaktime discussion groups.