Behind The Scenes, StuCo Keeps Traditions Alive

StuCo Members Elected; Leadership Students Apply

   

     While there are many school traditions students expect to happen, what is often overlooked is who is behind those favorite school traditions keeping them alive. The answer: Student Council and Leadership. Leadership class plans big events such as Homecoming, prom and Freshman First Day as well as smaller events like Holly Jolly Volley, Adopt a Family and assemblies. 

     “Student Council is mostly representatives, and they would help decorate,” senior Suzie Silvio said. “And Leadership is the people who plan everything and actually carry out each activity and make sure everything runs smoothly. And then StuCo officers are just there to help.”

Student Council Election Speeches

     The students work in small committees to motivate the student body. 

     “We get split up in our committees and do our work and also do a couple essays and presentations for other classes along the way about how to be better leaders,” senior Molly Vavak said. 

     Leadership works with the Student Council to help plan events for upcoming weeks, and they have a mission for the class.

     “To get all the students involved and participate in school activities and just make sure school is an enjoyable place to be,” Silvio said. 

     Leadership students had to go through an application process to be accepted into the class. 

    “I got into Leadership by doing the interviewing process which is how everyone gets in,” senior Alex Gonzalez said. “You can do it your junior or senior year. I was only this year, my senior year. And I interviewed in May of my junior year, and I found out at the end of this year in may that I got in.” 

     Student Council sponsor Andrea Holmes chooses students to enroll in the Leadership  class she teaches. During their sophomore and junior years, they go through an application process. 

     “Our assignments are basically the projects, so a lot of it has been grandfathered in, and it’s kind of a tradition at Staley  —  like the dances,” Holmes said. “This year we did something new, and our Leadership class was in ‘Grease’ for the theater department.”

      Leadership participated in the musical as an assignment in response to the production needing more cast members. Holmes said she also wants Leadership to be more involved in different clubs and activities. 

     “We had a little bit of hesitancy, especially from our boys, when we first explained what we were going to do,” Holmes said. “My girls were very excited, but overall when the production was over, we felt like we learned a lot.”

     Holmes said they learned a lot about theater and brought a lot of new faces to theater. 

     “So people came to support kids that normally would not have come to productions, and so we hopefully opened our eyes to students that might have otherwise not come,” Holmes said.

     Leadership students come from different backgrounds and ethnicities, and they come together to provide events for the school community.