About 220 youngsters from across the region converged on the MCM Elegante Wednesday for the Texas Association of Student Councils district meeting.
STEM Academy Secondary Principal Cody Griffin said student councils from around the area meet once a year to present projects they committed to throughout the year.
The projects were showcased in the hallways outside the ballrooms at the hotel.
“These are all projects that they submit to the faculty members of the different schools, the sponsors for credit for awarding of different types of achievements,” Griffin said.
“Each school in the state of Texas that is a member of the Texans Association of Student Councils, when they meet at district they can apply for awards in different categories. These categories are called Pride and Patriotism. That deals with having pride in your school, your community and globally. Then you have energy and environment that, just like the name says, it’s looking at taking care of the energy that they use and the environment that they’re around. They also have DASH, which stands for drug, alcohol, safety and health. Again, that’s dealing with projects that they commit to on campus that are dealing with those types of categories,” Griffin said.
There is also a community service group project and that deals with how they outreach to students on their campuses, to adults and to the community outside of their schools. If they earn enough points in all those categories, they can be awarded sweepstakes, which means they have all those awards, plus the Outstanding Student Council award.
The sponsors were busy determining whether the schools had earned those points.
The conference included breakout sessions such as one with the University of Texas Permian Basin student council so high school students can see how they can continue in the organization as they further their education.
Allison Barnes, a STEM Academy senior, is president of the Student Council this year and has been part of the organization throughout high school.
“I love doing this kind of stuff. In fact, our school helped plan this event … These things are a great opportunity for student leaders to get a chance to talk to each other and learn from each other’s ideas. We oftentimes will use projects that we heard about from other students in our school and implement them to help our community,” Barnes said.
After this, it’s on to the state convention April 21-23 in Irving. Barnes said they will present some of their projects to students from across the state.
Keli Gunn, STEM Academy Student Council sponsor, said it has been many years since the district meeting has been held in Odessa. For the last five years, it was held in Seminole.
“The work that these students have done is phenomenal. they really have come up with some great ideas to engage as young people to improve their communities, both within the school and within the broader context. There’s a lot of small schools represented here; small regional schools. They really try hard to interface with their community outside the walls of their schools,” Gunn said.
Gunn said the parent organization, the Texas Association of Student Councils, upped the requirements for being recognized and the students are still striving to meet and exceed those expectations.
Jo’Leigh Hall, STEM Student Council secretary, is a sophomore who is graduating a year early.
“It’s given me a really new insight on STEM itself. It’s also given me an opportunity to make friends with the younger people and the older people. Before I was in Student Council, I didn’t know anybody in STEM really and now I know everybody,” Hall said.
In addition to meeting people she might not have normally come in contact with, Hall said being in Student Council looks good when she talks to colleges.
“It also gives me a role in leadership because I want to be a surgeon. They have to work with a lot of people and so it’s going to be an insight on working with people from all different backgrounds,” Hall said.
