As the 2023-2024 school year commenced, students at Channel Islands High School reunited with friends and teachers. They were also greeted by something new: Minga.
Minga is a campus management platform for school safety and engagement system that was presented to the students as their new form of a hall pass. So now, students who are using the restroom, or on their way to the nurse’s office or Wellness Center, show their pass on their phones rather than carrying around the handmade wooden boards. Students have 3 passes a day with 10 minutes to each pass. This allows them to be provided with the right amount of time to use the restroom and take a breather from school-related activities.
“It all started with an advertisement that was sent to (principal) Ms. Ramos,” says assistant principal Ms. Wendi Butler, the Minga Queen herself.
At first, students found themselves puzzled by the fact that their phone had the power to hold their privilege of a pass. The handmade wooden boards had been put back and have been replaced electronically.
Some students were in despair at the fact that they had to wait until someone around the campus returned back to their classes. Minga is a first come first serve system in which students wait until passes expire and new students are able to issue passes.
“I shouldn’t have to worry about other students using the restroom,” said Frida Gonzalez, a senior. “It should not be a race to a pass.” states a group of seniors at the Islands.
Butler’s motive for this change is to be safe and know which kids are allowed to leave campus.
“Minga gives students freedom and accountability at the same time,” said Ms. Butler.
“Teachers and staff are allowed to distribute passes “. The system is timed to allow students to use their passes for 10 minutes. “They have 10 minutes I tell the campus supervisor” “They can walk if they need to”. Butler focuses on the importance of the students here at CIHS. “I really think about young women to make sure they have access to what they need,” Ms. Butler said.
What students don’t know is that we’ve become a momentum for other schools. As a campus, we have tested the works of this system. Our influence has become an important part of the Oxnard Union District.
“I think it’s been a beneficial system so much so that other schools in the district are going to be doing it,” Ms. Butler says.
Currently, CI is the only school in the Oxnard Union District that has adapted 100 percent of the Minga system. Although Pacifica and Camarillo use this application, they aren’t as fully involved as CI is. CI has become one of the schools who promotes Minga and has shown vast improvement towards the campus with the system.
Hueneme High School principal Ms. Brenda Bravo believes that Minga is a beneficial system to her campus and definitely sees the usage of Minga shortly at HHS. Bravo states, “Yes, Hueneme High School is in the process of planning implementation of Minga.”
Ms. Butler understands the limits and challenges that Minga can create for students. In response to that, the system allows teachers to create passes above the normal limits.
She understands students’ viewpoints and believes it is important to “Think like a kid,” explaining her “color pop” days. Butler states that she likes to make Minga fun and creative. Students at CIHS have noticed that the Minga background turns pink on Wednesday, influenced by the famous line “On Wednesdays we wear pink” from the movie “Mean Girls.”
In the future, Ms. Butler hopes to be able to assign students with an extra pass as a reward. As a way to award students for their responsibility.
