“I was happy to have been able to join, especially seeing that one of my friends also made it. The day I got the email I told my parents and they mentioned how it would look good on a college or job application, especially if I stay through it,” said student council member Willow O’Gorman. Student council helps students practice their leadership skills, and it gives them time to take on extra responsibilities that those specific students might be ready for. Most middle school activities accept all students, but middle school student council only accepts 7% of the middle school student body.
There are eighteen members in the middle school student council, six students each from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. There are three sixth grade boys in middle school student council; Brady Fox, Carter Koppmann, and Harmon Wojahn. There are the same number of sixth grade girls in the student council, Kennedy Dettmann, Brooklyn Flodeen, and Lola Winchell. In seventh grade there are four boys and two girls: Gabe Bauch, Charlie Gappa, Axel Lundell, Edmon Otterness, Aubrey Litchke, and Addison Wetterlund. The eighth grade section consists of all girls: Victoria Brady, Alyssa Burgess, Amy Fick, Lexi Marking, Claire Meyers, and Willow O’Gorman.
The students’ teachers from the previous year are the people who select the students from each grade to be in student council. Mrs. Burvee, the head of the middle school student council says: “They just vote on who they think would be good, who are kind to other people, good leaders, organized.” The teachers also select students who they won’t have to worry about missing class. A student who was in student council the previous year, might have a slightly better chance of being accepted again, and if Burvee thinks a student did a good job, she might hand pick them to be a part of council again next year.
Middle school student council helps plan fun activities and events. For the first project of the year, the council worked on a homecoming scavenger hunt. The participants would get a sheet listing items participants needed to find around the lunchroom, after which the student council began to plan for the middle school semi-formal dance. They made posters informing middle school students about what to expect, and they also helped to create a playlist, decorate before the dance, and clean up afterwards. The middle school student council plans to host another dance in the spring, and possibly work on a few other projects. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders all work together on the same projects, and the middle schoolers only meet once a month on PLC days, so when they do meet they have to be hardworking and efficient.
Student council plans a lot of the events middle schoolers might attend or participate in when they are in middle school. They range from school dances to scavenger hunts, and most middle schoolers participate in them. The members of student council must be dedicated, hard working, and kind. Middle school council is an extracurricular activity, and is not mandatory, although eighth grader Amy Fick says: “It’s really fun and anyone who wants to join should join.”