ABSTRACT
There are limited platforms for students to express their voice and be heard in the United States education system, particularly in elementary education. The lack of these platforms may have resulted in a break in the “pipeline of citizenry” for students. To rebuild the pipeline of citizenry, the Kentucky Student Voice Team (SVT) creates platforms for students to express their voice and be heard outside the traditional boundaries of schools. This chapter explores how the Kentucky SVT creates platforms for student expression and how these platforms influenced elementary, middle, and high school education in Kentucky. SVT is made up of approximately 100 self-selected Kentucky students, ages 13–22, from roughly 30 different schools located across the state. A majority of these students are high school students from middle- or upper-middle-class families, who identify as high achievers (e.g., students achieving A grades in courses and/or taking Advanced Placement or Honors courses), and live in urban communities (for example, Lexington-Fayette, Louisville).
