With smiles and greetings, the fourth-graders carrying their trays and notebooks through the St. Peter School office eagerly approached their principal, Joseph Gulino.
Pulled out of the regular lunchroom, and sometimes part of recess, to go to the principal's office each month might sound like a negative.
At St. Peter, it's a positive.
Jason Binkley, Maggie Winegar, Danika Giarratano and Daniel Rhea were selected by their classrooms as advisers.
Fourth- through eighthgrade classes send a boy and a girl representative to discuss concerns or suggest improvements with Gulino monthly.
"'From the mouths of babes - a phrase we all have heard, but might not really practice experiencing," Gulino noted. "I want to experience the wisdom of the students and all they have to offer, which is a great deal."
The experience grows leadership in these students, as they learn to conduct meetings within their classroom, take notes, represent their peers' interests and then report back on the results.