ELGIN - "A jury of your peers" takes on new meaning when it's students judging students.
The jurors and leaders of the District 300 Peer Jury will be featured on the next "People to People" radio talk-show, from 8:15 to 9 a.m. Tuesday, January 5, 2010. The show airs on Elgin WRMN - 1410 AM. Listeners are welcome to dial (847) 931-1410 during the talk-show to comment or ask questions. To hear streaming audio from anywhere in the world, just link to www.wrmn1410.com during the show and click on "Listen Live" in the bottom right corner.
The interview guests will include student jurors from Dundee-Crown, Hampshire, and Jacobs high schools. They cannot be identified in order to keep the peer jury process confidential, both for offenders and jurors. Other guests will include School Board Member Anne Miller, who helped to found the D300 Peer Jury 1 ½ years ago, and Associate Superintendent Dr. David Scarpino, who manages this successful program.
The D300 Peer Jury is a voluntary student-driven alternative to the traditional in-school discipline program. It is designed to help reduce student discipline incidences and prevent the escalation of negative behavior. Some questions that the students and leaders will explore on the radio Jan. 5 will include:
- What options do the jurors have in the consequences that they assign to the offender?
- What measures are in place to ensure that the offender actually carries out the consequences?
- What role do the offender's parents play in the jury process?
- How does the jury come up with a consensus?
- How does it feel to have this responsibility?
- What is the impact of the offender having to face his/her fellow students?
For more information, tune in to 1410-AM at 8:15 a.m. on Jan. 5, or visit www.d300.org/schools/peer-jury