Student Council Recap

Student Council- 2009

By Jessie Junker

New Mexico student councils didn’t have to go to Orlando, FL to experience the magic. For them, their magic happens at the New Mexico Student Council State Conference.

The New Mexico Association of Student Councils is an organization dedicated to helping middle to high school students excel in leadership. The organization      helps bring community to all the student councils in New Mexico.  On February 12-14 at Rio Rancho High School over 65 schools attended the state leadership conference ready to learn and lead.  “I really liked that so many schools come together to help out other schools,” said Nicole Lucero, a 9th-grader at Volcano Vista High School. At the conference many workshops are held to increase leadership, confidence and enthusiasm that will last in its school towards any activity. The conference is also a way for schools to learn techniques other schools perform in their student councils to improve management, efficiency, and quality of the councils work.

For many schools the funding to send their entire student council is not available.  Most schools have a process in which they select representatives to attend the state conference. James Padilla, the vice president of the 8th-grade from Mesa Alta Jr. High School in Bloomfield said leaders come from a selected few who get tired of waiting on people to do something. He said he likes to take charge and makes sure it gets done. This was Padilla’s first state conference but he attended last summer’s workshop and said he hopes he learns at the conference as much as he did at the summer workshop.

But it’s not ‘all work and no play’.

“I really like meeting all the new people,” said Jonny Montano from Cimarron High School. Montano has attended the state conference for the last four years and has been actively involved in his student council since the fourth-grade.

“I also enjoyed the guest speaker,” said Montano, “He was very funny.” There are fun events throughout the conference that teaches students that being a leader doesn’t mean being serious all the time. During lunch and some free time, the student’s play circle games where anyone from any school can participate. And at the end of the second day and dance is held for them to let their minds relax and have a little more fun before the conference is over.

At the end of the conference, Libby Tilly, the executive director of the NMASC gives the Platinum Student Council of the Year Award. The award goes to the student council, regardless of size or location, which demonstrates amazing leadership of its members not only in student councils but everywhere else. The schools that received the awards are Koogler Middle School and Taos High School.