The majority of the student body at Manitou Springs High School loves to enjoy events such as dances, the Drive Smart carnival, and all of the assembly’s that go on throughout the year. But does the student body understand how all of these events come into place? The short answer is, no. STUCO is the masked man behind all of these great events, but never seems to bask in the glory of their hard work. I didn’t even truly understand all of the work STUCO puts in to make things run around Manitou Springs High School when I had signed up for it. My perception was that I would have to put up some decorations here, and maybe right a small paper there; but I was entirely wrong.

One of the greatest examples of the great efforts STUCO members put in was during this year’s food drive. To collect food outside of school, members scattered around neighborhoods going door to door to spread the word of our mission to collect canned food. They then went back the next day to collect the donated food right from the house. Then, long hours were spent another weekend in front of the local Safeway receiving donations from the kind hearted shoppers. But it didn’t end there. Countless hours were then spent sorting and weighing the food by Jayden Omi (11) and Sage Stevens (12). After big efforts, especially from none other than Omi, they collected a school record of more than 2,000 pounds of food.

The food drive is one of many examples on how StuCo thrives to make Manitou Springs High School a better place. They don’t get any glory in all of the things that they do, no money, or fancy things. Everything they do is to make the students and staff to have one of the best experiences of their lives.