By Denzel Rustempasic
Tempe Prep is full of vibrations. The echo of a Humane Letters classroom, the hum of a thesis defense, and the constant ringing of its teachers and staff. These vibrations are a result of something unique to TPA: its core belief in the practice of the Socratic method. This school teaches people to form ideas and then promptly challenges them to articulate and communicate those ideas with confidence and reason.
What TPA could use is something to unify these vibrations. Despite our tight-knit community, with abundant opportunities for its various parts to express themselves and contribute to the ongoing conversations about our school, students alone find themselves unrepresented in any official way. Many students believe that Tempe Prep would benefit invaluably from the creation of a student government structured on our Socratic principles, one devoted to promoting students’ ideas and encouraging them to work together as a more cohesive student body.
An early poll conducted by Reeya Devani and Claire Carmody found that over 90 percent of the student body would support the creation of some form of student government. In addition, Headmaster Baum has voiced his support for the idea, and has spoken about the potential advantages it could yield:
“My support for some version of a TPA student government follows from two beliefs: first, that our students are their own, unique society. While they are currently under the guidance of their parents and teachers, they are even now being groomed for lives of full autonomy and accountability. Our curriculum teaches this every day, in every text, through every lesson, lab, Socratic exchange or artistic expression. That this unique society lacks an official body through which to discover some of its purposes and to express those to the larger society to which it belongs, puzzles me. And second, if any student body has been prepared for experiments in democratic life, it is ours. My impression of TPA students is that they already possess the maturity and the preparation to participate as the rest of the community does in the broad life of our school. I fully endorse this endeavor and hope the TPA community as a whole can find its way to do so as well.”
Dr. Baum further explained the various ways the government could be constructed, but ultimately believes the students should be the ones to create this new organization. For this reason TPA students have been given an opportunity and a challenge. They are invited to create a constitution, and form a student government, perhaps as early as the end of this year (if it is to be up and running in August).
For this government to be a success it will need to accommodate the concerns of the school’s teachers, students, and administration. Teachers have a legitimate concern about the potential of a student government devolving onto a “Student Grievance Committee,” which would exist solely so students might complain about uniforms and how much homework they have. Many students are concerned about the election process ultimately turning into a glorified popularity contest, electing people who aren’t necessarily devoted to the good of the school.
The answer to these concerns is the creation of a “Steering Committee,” which would be made up of students dedicated to finding unique and effective solutions to the problems associated with a traditional student government. If you haven’t noticed the flyers posted around the school, this committee is completely open to any student grades 8-11 and meets every Thursday in Room 404. They are currently in the process of creating a questionnaire, which will be administered to all future Tempe Prep high school students.
This is where the beauty of the Socratic method will be seen. The committee will take the collective data of the student body and construct a unique and progressive student government aimed at accommodating each and every issue the project faces. For this reason, the final version of Tempe Prep’s student government could very well be something completely unique and different from any other school. It is the students’ responsibility to contribute and help to shape their school’s future.
By the end of this year three things will happen: the concerns of each and every Tempe Prep individual will be recorded, a constitution will be drafted, and TPA’s first student government will be formed. The power rests in whoever wants to contribute, so ask not what your school can do for you, but ask what you can do for your school.