Student Council .. what is it?

A council is a group of people chosen to make decisions or give advice or feedback about a topic. A student council is entirely made up of only students and they represent all the other students in the school. What does represent mean? It means to be a symbol of something. You might recognize symbols like these. They take the place of the words so its shorter to communicate and quickly recognized:

Poison Recycle Handicap Law Sound

Mail SumTotal almost equal infinity

$
$

Dollar forest medicine

Jesus -Salvation

Some symbols represent ideas, The American Flag is a symbol of freedom. Some symbols represent people, such as the handicap symbol above. Did you know that a person can be a symbol too? Adam Tollios is a symbol of a boy. A person who speaks and acts for many other people, especially in government, is called a representative. Every state elects two senators to represent its people. Every class elects a student(s) to speak for their class. So, a student council is a group of students who volunteer to represent, or speak for, all of the students where they attend school. It is They listen to what the other students think, are concerned about, and what ideas they have. They have to listen well and learn to repeat what others say, careful to not get it wrong. They also have to speak loud and clear.

A school performs best when its teachers, its students and their parents are all part of the way things are done. The school districts job is choosing what diisttriictt dsrc will be learned and finding good teachers. The principle and priinciipall & pr nc pa & & parentts paren s teachers job is to teach the students. They also have to find tteachers eachers their own ways to make their school great. The parents are sttudentts s uden s part of a PTO and represent all the parents of their school. They also find their own ways to improve the school. So how are students part of the way things are done? They get to share their ideas and what they are concerned about with the teachers and the school principal. But they all cant fit into one room and it would take way too long for every student to talk. People are bound to end up fighting. Instead, they elect a classmate who they think will be good at listening to them and good at speaking out loud. That classmate will share their interests, ideas and concerns with the teachers and principal for them. Like a symbol, they take the place of something else so it is shorter to communicate and is quickly recognized. A student council member makes sure their class has a voice. But just like the teachers and the parents, they have to find ways to improve their school too. They have meetings where they discuss ideas. They often also help raise funds for school-wide activities, including social events, community projects and school reform (that means changing the way things are done.)

Class Representatives Attends student council meetings and reports

back to classrooms. Reports class feedback to the council. Has patience and listens well.

Conducts him/herself with honesty in everything and great behavior.

Character Traits Listens carefully to others and gets everything they say. Cares about his classmates. Motivates others. Good at asking questions and making things clear. Thinks creatively. Has lots of ideas. Speaks clearly, keeps it short and to the point. Is a good example for other students: follows rules, is kind, honest, loyal.

Did you know thats how our government works? The Student Council is modeled loosely after the U.S. Congress, or based on the Executive Branch of the United States. Our country is a democracy. The people are in control and they vote on things. When different people want different things, but can have only one, the fairest way to choose is to take a vote and the most votes win; as in gets what they want. For this to happen fairly, every single person must be allowed to speak; to have their ideas shared, their concerns heard, and their vote counted. Each state has representatives that gather their states voices and shares them with the government.