Student Council Overview
A Student Council is a group of elected and volunteer students working together with an adult advisor within the framework of a constitution or bylaws to provide a means for student expression and assistance in school affairs and activities, give opportunities for student experience in leadership and encourage student / faculty / community relations.
Through projects and activities, student councils work to:
- PROMOTE CITIZENSHIP
- PROMOTE SCHOLARSHIP
- PROMOTE LEADERSHIP
- PROMOTE HUMAN RELATIONS
- PROMOTE CULTURAL VALUES
A student council is a group of student leaders who work with an adult advisor to collaborate with others to impact their school community, which impacts their city or town, which impacts our state, which impacts our country, which changes the world.
Student Council FAQ's »
What is a Student Council?
A student council is a group of student leaders who work with an adult advisor to collaborate with others to impact their school community, which impacts their city or town, which impacts our state, which impacts our country, which changes the world.
- Definition created by 2008-09 TASC State Officers and District Presidents
PROMOTE CITIZENSHIP
- By supporting and further developing democracy as a way of life
- By involving students in meaningful, purpose-oriented activities
- By helping each student develop a sincere regard for law and order appropriate to this democratic society
- By leading each individual in developing a sense of personal responsibility and earned self-respect
- By example through teaching the processes and procedures of a democracy
- By encouraging desirable attitudes and the continuous upward development of valued patterns of good citizenship
- By providing a forum for student opinions, interests and desires so these may be understood by the entire student body, faculty, administration and community
- By honestly reflecting and interpreting the student viewpoint
PROMOTE SCHOLARSHIP
- By contributing to the total educational growth of all students in the school
- By encouraging the highest standards of scholarship and positive student involvement in learning and thinking
- By providing experience in genuine problem-solving procedures
- By providing training and experiences in the skills and techniques of good citizenship and leadership to prepare articulate citizens and leaders for a progressing society
PROMOTE LEADERSHIP
- By providing young people with the power and right to speak and, especially, the power, right and privilege of being heard by those in authority
- By avoiding the commercial or cultural exploitation of students
- By providing coordination of school-sponsored student activities with constant evaluation in terms of the selected purposes
- By promoting opportunities for leadership among student body members
- By utilizing the ideas and support of students in solving relevant school problems
PROMOTE HUMAN RELATIONS
- By helping create harmonious relationships among faculty, administration, student body and the community
- By providing organized services to the school in the interest of the general welfare
- By communicating purposes, activities and the other positive elements of school life through mass media to the entire community
- By helping young people further realize the genius and dignity of each individual
PROMOTE CULTURAL VALUES
- By sparking school loyalty, pride, patriotism and individual student development
- By providing real experiences in group development and human understandings
- By helping students earn and protect individual rights and responsibilities
- By selecting projects and activities which seek to achieve purposes that are significant in the life of the school community
- By giving young people deeper reasons for attending school and the stimulus for developing commitments to worthy goals
- By helping each student reach maximum educational growth and development
OBJECTIVES OF STUDENT COUNCILS
- To initiate, implement, and complete projects and activities which will be of help to the school, the students, the faculty, the administration, the Board of Trustees and the community.
- To develop and provide opportunities for leadership and service in the local school and in the community.
- To encourage personal growth of leaders through participation in district, state and national meetings and organizations.
- To provide a living workshop of democratic processes, through such activities as elections, participation in a constitutional representative assembly, etc.
- To contribute to the educational experiences of students by providing them with a positive involvement in the school, with widened areas of responsibilities and with more direct participation in organizing and implementing activities.
- To promote respect for law and order and the general welfare of the school and community.
- To promote an awareness of human relations, of power structures and how one effectively operates within them. These objectives are realistically approached through increasing avenues of cooperation among the administration, faculty and students.
- To provide a viable means for student expression and an increasing amount of self-direction.
- To improve understanding between and within groups through interaction and communications.
- To develop student potential and encourage to make a well-informed, honest, interested and active citizenship.
- To develop not only leadership abilities within the youth of today, but also leadership for the community, state and nation of tomorrow. In this process, it is also the objective to develop an awareness of good leadership qualities, hopefully, for a more informed, concerned and active citizenry of tomorrow.
- To increase student involvement and school pride.
The projects in which the Student Council participates should be those which promote harmony among all groups with which the Student Council works. All projects should be submitted for approval to the principal who has final veto power on any activity.
- Developed by Dr. Earl Reum
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