Baker Middle School students surveyed their peers on well-being, produced a podcast about what they found and now plan to take the work beyond their school walls.
The Student Equity Council at Baker launched last school year, according to an Oct. 20 post on the Troy School District’s Torch Blog.
The council released a schoolwide well-being survey May 5 and used the results to choose discussion topics, including belonging, respect toward peers and teachers, student voice and bullying.
Council members then created a podcast exploring those issues from students’ perspectives. Student contributor Erin Abraham wrote that the council wanted students to have a space to hear their peers’ views on difficult topics.
Three staff members guided the effort: Mr. Cross, Mrs. Ebert and Mrs. La Torre, according to Abraham’s account.
This school year, the council plans to expand its impact across Baker and the wider community, helping build what the post calls a better “OneTroy.” The post does not identify specific upcoming projects or dates.
The district has also supported student equity work at a broader level. A separate Torch Blog post published Aug. 8, 2025 traces the districtwide Student Equity Council to an idea proposed by a group of juniors during the 2022–23 school year.
Council adviser Dr. Yancy said those students wanted to address harm and bias across the school system while creating a leadership space where they could support one another.
According to that account, the district council helped launch a Harm and Bias Reporting Tool and organized districtwide read-ins. It also collaborated with the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board and Black Student Union on a joint Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and Middle School Leadership Conference.
