MSHSL Student Advisory and Leadership Team meets for planning session

The Minnesota State High School League’s Student Advisory and Leadership Team (SALT) met for a two-day session on June 14 and 15, 2023.  

The Team, working with League staff. discussed expectations and goals for the SALT Team. Team members have high expectations for the conduct of their fellow SALT team members as they believe part of their role is to set good examples in their school communities and beyond.  

The Team quickly moved into identifying current issues and potential solutions.  Team members are concerned about behaviors seen at contests and events held at their schools including taunting and harsh from student sections, parents, coaches, and other players. Another problem recognized is the continued specialization in sports and fewer students participating in multiple sports. They also acknowledged an issue with maintaining teams in smaller schools where numbers are decreasing.  A final identified issue is the mental well-being of students. The Team asked questions of each other and League staff to learn more about each of these issues and began to brainstorm some possible ways to address them. Working on these will be a continuous task for SALT Team members. 

Social Media accounts were created using Instagram and TikTok to share videos stressing the importance of behavior expectations and on how to prepare and deal with things as student participants. The Team is hopeful that these will be helpful to student participants that struggle to maintain a balance between school and activities while trying to keep a good mindset. Please find and follow these accounts at @mshsl_salt 

During the retreat, the group took a working-social outing to Top Golf and made a visit to a dairy farm to meet with a potential League sponsor.  

The group will continue to meet monthly via Zoom with in-person meetings arranged throughout the year.  

Information submitted information from Paige Haala, SALT member.