Each year six juniors across the state of Kansas are selected to be a part of the KSHSAA Student Advisory Team.
Last year, I was one of the selected students and I currently serve as one of the 2A representatives. As a member of the team, part of my job is to provide input to the KSHSAA Executive Board, Board of Directors and Association staff about issues affecting students.
The team also serves as a sounding board on proposals affecting students. KSHSAA encourages each team member to develop a network and communicate with other students regarding advisory team positions and express student opinions relative to the KSHSAA activities, rules and policies.
The team has a couple meetings throughout the year where it discusses a wide variety of topics.
Here are some things we discussed at the most recent meeting:
• Outside competition during the season. Since we are a fairly small student community, multiple people choose to compete in out-of-school activities. This also occurs in many other school districts as well. To address this issue, it has been proposed that athletes should be able to compete in one outside competition in season. The outside competition would count towards the amount of games they are allowed to play in a regular season.
• Mental health. Mental health is a very prominent subject in schools now. As a group, we discussed how our schools are dealing with mental health and how KSHSAA could get involved with it in academics and athletics.
• Private school classifications. Currently they are classified the same way as public schools but some of the private schools have a large advantage in competition. KSHSAA is considering proposing a multiplier that could change the classification of a private school based on criteria such as location and recent state championships.
• The addition of 6-man football. Some schools have difficulty fielding a roster for 8-man, let alone 11-man. Starting in 2022, 26 Kansas teams will play 6-man football (WHS will continue to play 11-man).
• Basketball shot clocks. Should high school basketball add shot clocks to look more like the college game, or does the cost and difficulty outweigh the benefits? This discussion will continue for sure.
Being on the advisory team allows me to give input on how new issues could affect our school. If any student has thoughts or ideas to bring to the committee, let me know.
The Charger 
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