Students Lyla Robison and Isabella Downing have taken on the FCCLA project titled Public Policy Advocate. In order to do this, they advocate to change one of Central Heights High School’s policies.
They are advocating against the Central Heights High School Dress Code through their FCCLA project titled, “Let’s Learn Not Label.” They believe that the dress code is biased, restricts students’ freedom of self-expression, can be a financial barrier for some students and can cause students to feel uncomfortable in hot Texas weather. They also argue that the dress code teaches students to be ashamed of their bodies, can affect some religious practices, and lacks normalizing regular bodily functions, such as growing a beard.
Robison and Downing understand the importance of a dress code to maintain professionalism, but they are doing their best to make it a more fair and ideal one for the students of Central Heights.
“We know that this dress code is put in place to promote a more professional, disciplined environment,” Downing said, “but with students opting to wear sweatpants, it is already a sort of unprofessional environment.”
They are reaching out to students to get their opinions through interviews and a Google form survey. They are basing their project on the results from this survey.
They are meeting with superintendent David Russell, principal Stephen Cox, vice principal Kenze Graff and counselor Lauren Tyler, as well as the school’s staff and board members to advocate for the opinions of the students.
They are using Instagram as a platform to promote changes and gather opinions from a younger audience. They have also posted fliers on Facebook on why the dress code should change in hopes of getting their thoughts out to an older audience, including parents.
Their main goal is to help students stand up for themselves when they disagree with what is going on around them.
“Our biggest concern is giving students the confidence to speak out about their opinions and changes they would like to make in the dress code,” Downing said.