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Student Council: A Road to Change
By Clara Hendrickson, Natasha Khan, and Olivia Pollak
How to Get Involved
• Go to http://www.sfds
9418.blogspot.com to see the latest news with student council
• Encourage your kids to start committees
• Help with committees that you have experience in (i.e., If you know organic food companies, you can help out the cafeteria committee)
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This past fall, the student council elections started the same way they had in the past. Pop culture posters saying “vote for us” deluged the hallways, promises for votes were made, and all eyes were on the candidates running for office. In other words, the popularity contest was about to begin. However, the morning we were going to give our speeches, Dr. Jackson halted the process. In private meetings with aspiring student council members and at an Upper School assembly, Dr. Jackson talked to the student body about how he wanted to see the dynamic of Student Council change to focus on more substantial work.
Dr. Jackson began with asking the candidates to rewrite their speeches to focus on serious matters rather than topics such as pizza days and spirit weeks. The candidates met with Dr. Jackson to build our skills in persuasive speaking, talk about concrete improvements student council could make in the school, and discuss the potential student council has to make inspiring changes in our in School and in the larger community. As elected student council members, we now have this great responsibility to lead the Upper School, and we are so excited to genuinely guide the School towards helping others and influencing the world around us one step at a time.
Building on the theme of change, we have implemented a new system of committees with the intention to give students a larger role in their school. Committees can be started around any issues or problems that students see in their daily school life, in the city, or even in the larger world. Students do not have to be on the Council to start a committee. In fact, it is our hope that the committees will allow a larger percentage of the student population to be involved in the Student Council.
Issues within the School might be things like becoming more environmentally friendly, helping improve the cafeteria, introducing new sports like boys volleyball, or keeping the School informed about current events. Issues that pertain to San Francisco include continuing relationships with the Food Bank and Senior Center, as well as beginning new relationships with local organizations. Issues in the larger world could be anything from raising money to help Darfur to setting up an international pen pals program. To become a committee chair, students must fill out a proposal form, which is easily accessible on the advisory board. The form must be approved by the Council with a majority vote before the committee chair candidate appears before the Council to answer questions. After a short Q&A session, the Council votes on the candidate.
In addition to introducing committees into the Student Council structure, we recognize that we have an opportunity to set precedents for future Student Councils. Therefore, we have decided to dedicate more of our time to making a worthwhile change to our school, community, and world. At our last meeting before winter break, every Student Council member was asked to share one goal for the second semester. Our goals ranged from fundraisers such as Concert for Community and a walkathon to community outreach events. Community event ideas included Peace to the Panhandle, where we could read poetry in the Panhandle, and Flowers to Fulton, where students could plant pansies around the neighborhood. Long-term goals included installing solar panels in the School and starting a reading program with the children at the Tenderloin Community School.
Although we are changing a lot, Student Council is still committed to retaining our popular traditions. In December, we had our first pizza day and, despite a few difficulties including a lack of pepperoni, we feel it went relatively smoothly for a first pizza day. We also had our first spirit week with an array of both new and old dress-up themes. The themes included an all-school “Pajama Day” as well as “Summer Loving,” “Western,” “Dress Like a Celebrity,” and “Pirate” days.
Finally, we have started a new blog http://www.sfds9418.blogspot.com to keep the SFDS community updated about Student Council news. We would like to encourage students and parents to check the blog regularly. There, you can find information about upcoming events as well as post comments, questions, or suggestions. We also prompt parents to talk to their children about becoming an active member of the Student Council by contributing suggestions or even starting their own committee. Our goal is to incorporate as many students as possible in an effort to make the School a more productive environment.
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