The students are participants of the ABC13 Friday Flyover, a competition in which high schools are selected to create three impressive formations using their student body on their respective turfs. The school's formations are then up for a vote, and a winner is crowned.
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The Morton Ranch High School students lined up early to get into formation. ABC13 also featured their school because of the way their student body helps to create a custom student life experience through a student-led group called the Principal Communication Network (PCN).
"As students, we have a lot more to say," said senior Ryan Marron.
"It's great to be seen as a young adult coming into high school instead of a child from middle school and elementary," said senior Jordan Bates.
The nearly half dozen students are selected by their predecessors to participate in PCN. The group meets with the principal of the school to air out grievances, give solutions, and also make suggestions on how to improve student life on campus.
"We all want to come together and make the school a better school," said Marron.
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PCN not only gives students a voice, but it gives them ownership of their high school experience. The students are tasked to make their own mission statement, which is posted around school and read each week during morning announcements. So far, students have asked for a number of things to help improve the campus like skateboard racks, refillable water bottle stations and social media offerings like Snapchat filters.
"We use Twitter as a platform to really communicate with a lot of people in our school. We sometimes take polls, we have some questions," said Marron.
"Every moment I am here is a great moment. And it's just because I know that I'm going to be valued and respected as an individual," said Bates.
Bates and his fellow PCN members say they don't always get what they want out of the PCN sit-downs with the principal, but it does allow their voices to be heard.
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