TPS Youth Advisory Council

The Tulsa Public Schools Youth Advisory Council is a program in partnership with Tulsa Public Schools. This year, 36 students from all nine traditional high schools across the district come together to understand district governance and advise on policy priorities from the perspective of students.

Applications open in September each year!

2026 Program Outcomes

36 students representing all 9 traditional high schools served as members of the TPS Youth Advisory Council during the 2024-25 school year. Students convened 6 times throughout the school year. During these sessions, students had the opportunity to connect with district personnel to learn about the functions of the district as well as to share about their school experience. The final session culminated with a circle conversation.

This year was framed though two lenses:

Big Picture: Long Term
- Supporting TPS in elevating student voice in the strategic planning process and long term plans.
Direct Impact: Short Term
- Creating solutions and advocating for changes that can be implemented right away.

Student and District Actions:

Shared student perspective and feedback on student experience with district leadership
Identified priority areas and turned ideas into actions at school sites
Connected across school sites to hear different perspectives
Elevated youth voice into the strategic planning process and co-facilitated listening sessions at your school sites

Five Key Priority Areas:

Curriculum: surveyed students about curriculum
Teacher Quality: student feedback processes for teachers
Safety and Belonging: met with school leaders around ICE policies
Clubs and Electives: advocated for new clubs and supported new clubs
Athletics: advocated for student voice in coach hiring

Student Feedback:

“I like that we get to hear representation from all the schools. Most students feel like they don’t have a voice or they don’t realize there are avenues to help them have a voice. I feel like a lot of us here have seen direct changes from things that we’ve said.
“All of our ideas this past year can make a big impact and in the future I want to be able to say “TPS was like this and now it’s better” and I can know I was a part of that”
“I’m proud of how the group shaped me and helped me make different decisions, things I wouldn’t normally have done”
“I enjoyed knowing how TPS works, and knowing what we can fix and what we have to lobby to fix and who to lobby to.”
“Knowing in a palpable way that [people at the district] are real people. It is not just people fulfilling roles like a robot […] There are actual people who are taking you seriously.”

2025 Program Outcomes

20 students representing 7 schools served as members of the TPS Youth Advisory Council during the 2024-25 school year. Students convened 4 times throughout the school year. During these sessions, students had the opportunity to connect with district personnel to learn about the functions of the district as well as to share about their school experience. The final session culminated with a circle conversation.

Schools Represented:

Booker T. Washington, Central, McLain, Webster, Edison, East Central, & Hale

Connection with the District:

Students had opportunity to connect with the following teams and individuals to learn about their roles as well as advise on projects and student experience:

Chief of Staff - Tasha Johnson
Superintendent - Dr. Ebony Johnson
Executive Director of Data & Strategy - Emilee Taylor
Child Nutrition Aramark Team
Attend to Win - Stephanie Gregory
Post-Secondary Readiness - Krystal Hutchinson, Ryan Noshay, & Jasmine Newton
Data Strategist - Colin Medwick
Impact Tulsa - Gloria Rubio
Chief Information and Operations Officer - Joe Jennings
Chief of Strategy & Innovation - Sean Berkstresser

Student Feedback:

20 students across 7 TPS High School sites learned about TPS district functions, power mapping and asset mapping, asking strong questions, and came up with effective proposals for TPS leaders

92% of students said after doing this program, they are more committed to making positive community change in the future.

92% of students felt heard and seen by TPS leaders.

100% of students know the first step to take to advocate for themselves in the future.

On average, TPS YAC students who took the Child Hope Scale survey reported being "moderately hopeful" before the program and "highly hopeful" after the program with a +5 change.