Chicago students work to improve their schools, and find their voice along the way

Corliss High School junior Mentrell Blackman says being on his school’s student voice committee showed him he had “power and strength.” (Manuel Martinez/WBEZ)

Inside a classroom at Juarez High School in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood this fall, students craft a letter about the attitude and tone of some security guards, which they say creates a bad climate in the hallways. 

They are proposing a meeting with the head of security and the dean. The adviser has told them to approach it diplomatically.