A Marion Harding student has been selected for the selected by the Ohio School Safety Center for the 2024-2025 Ohio Student Safety Advisory Council.

Christian Pearson and 15 other student members will develop strategies to encourage their peers to engage in maintaining a safe school environment and will be advocates for students’ overall well-being. Students will work directly with OSSC school safety liaisons to organize events, focus groups and trainings to help highlight student success and safety best practices. These members will also act as a sounding board for the Ohio School Safety Working Group and OSSC on student marketing campaigns and other projects to ensure student voices are represented.

Gov. Mike DeWine created the council in 2022 to help OSSC leadership identify school safety concerns and develop innovative solutions to address them. Students from last year’s council will present their capstone projects at the School Safety Summit this coming summer.

“This year’s students took their capstone projects to new levels and got their peers more involved in the everyday safety activities at their schools,” OSSC Executive Director Emily Torok said. “Our alumni members quickly got the new council on-boarded and they all supported each other in a student network to promote safety across the state. I encourage everyone to reach out to their local council member to learn about their projects and initiatives. They are very impressive.”

The council will be invited to attend the in-person Ohio School Safety Summit July 31-Aug. 1 at the Columbus Convention Center to network with peers and attend informational sessions on violence prevention strategies and emotional safety.

Eight of the previous year’s council members have agreed to return as mentors for the incoming council. They will continue to work on projects in their communities and act as force multipliers for school safety improvements.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Marion Harding student named to Ohio Student Safety Advisory Council