Each year at about this time here at Manitou, we find ourselves in a calm spring. The crazy season of dances, Drive Smart campaigns and spirit days has ended; students and teachers are in the swing of things as we are nearly three-quarters of the way through the year. All of the chaos that the fall and winter brought has lulled. Our community always looks forward to the K&A awards assembly as well as Executive and Class Board campaigns; however, not everyone gets as hyped as Student Council members when they hear the words, “Executive Board.” In an attempt to shift from the old and liven things up a little, your very own council has discussed making several new additions and changes to this year’s agenda.
Our council’s Drive Smart Campaign earlier this year was quite successful; however, that wasn’t the end of it. Plans are in the making for a spring Drive Smart campaign. This proposed event would include some sort of interactive assembly as well as positivity throughout the week in reference to life’s possibilities. The events of that campaign would lean away from scare tactics in order to promote a safe and welcoming environment for everyone involved. If the proposal and approval process goes as planned, the event is to take place in late April.
The school is supposed to be a place for ideas to extend to the community, for voices to be heard, and for students to be successful. In order to fulfill this mission, your council has started interviewing random members of each grade in hope of getting feedback on past events as well as ideas for future ones. Certain Student Council representatives set out to ask a series of scripted questions and leave time for any random advice that the interviewed party would like to share. The committee in charge of making this happen is labeled RSVP (Raising Student Voice and Participation) and its intention is clearly defined in its title.
Another idea going around is the formation of a spirit app. The general concept would be that this app would remind people of events, incentivize school-held gathering attendance, and overall, promote school spirit and participation. This idea is in the works and its approval is pending.
As in years past, the Executive Board and Class Board elections will take place near the school year’s end. Each student will be given a choice to impact the next year’s head decision-makers. Campaigning for both of these boards will come around April and the speeches will be given some time in late April or early May. Some speeches may be presented in video form while others may be given live to the entire student and staff population here at Manitou. The speeches for Executive Board will occur on Wednesday, April 20th and video speeches for Class Boards will go out Wednesday, May 4th.
Some additions to our agenda come in the form of alterations. Our Green Machine this year received a tune up. With more events and an ever-broadening amount of groups whose events will be attended, this year’s spirit is growing and growing. The council slightly altered the name of its winter dance from “Snow-Coming” to “Snow Ball” (pun most definitely intended). The location of this dance also shifted from the old gym to the commons. The responses to these changes were scattered across the board from unnoticed to unappreciated. Another change from the past to the present would be a decrease in numbers of assemblies throughout the year. It just seemed that the events of this year called for less face-to-face time with the students and more indirect contact.
The mission statement for the student council reads, “We believe in serving as leaders, amplifying the student voice, and inspiring positive relationships to heighten our high school experience and leave a lasting, positive impact on our community.” By reaching out to the population that is affected by our events, requesting feedback and ideas from non-representative members of the school, and by adding in events as well as altering those from before, the Student Council hopes to exceed their own expectations.