Student Council works to expand positive school year

Samantha Stansbury, Editor

Envisioning her personal goals for leadership among students, English teacher Mrs. Rachel-Claire Cockrell, the new sponsor for Student Council, hopes to make this year’s council a positive and encouraging influence on the student body. Over the summer, Head Principal Dr. Danny Brackett contacted Cockrell, requesting that she take over the position.

“My immediate response was ‘that sounds like fun!’ I still think it’s going to be fun. And I think that’s part of what Student Council is for, to make the high school experience more fun for the students,” said Cockrell.

Former sponsor, Orientation to Teaching teacher Mrs. Oliver, sponsored STUCO for nine years before switching to FCCLA, and had the same vision as Cockrell; to be inclusive of all students and supportive of teachers.

“I want Student Council to be the motivators of the school. Student Council members should encourage the student body to have school spirit, attend games and events, and be proud to be a Wildcat. I want the student body to feel like they could come to a Student Council member with suggestions for homecoming, pep rallies, and other events, and know that their opinion will be valued,” said Cockrell.

This year all students, except the senior class, had the opportunity to vote for their representatives. Unlike the 11 sophomores and 14 juniors who applied for council, only 2 seniors signed up and were automatically accepted for Student Council. Junior applicant, Gracie Boortz, wants students to see the positive impact that STUCO has on the school as a member, and feels that the seniors that did apply will be apart of that positive influence.

“I think that those two seniors should play a big part in this year, because there is only two of them. We should all be able to get along way better as a group. Instead of multiple seniors trying to get a word in, the two could figure it all out together,” said Boortz.

One of the two that applied, Senior Kacie Jenkins, felt honored to be one of the only seniors and looks forward to getting more students involved in school activities and making decisions to benefit the entire student body.

“I like that there aren’t seniors dominating the Student Council. I think it’s good to have a variety of representatives from different grade levels so that Student Council as a whole can comply to everyone’s wants and needs in the school. But, it is an honor to be one of the two seniors put in charge of making the decisions throughout our school,” said Jenkins.

Even with the apparent lack of senior interest in participating in Student Council, Cockrell hopes to accomplish her goals and is currently focused on the fall festivities for the student body.

“Right now all of our focus is on fall homecoming. We are also working with Senior Class Council on spirit weeks and home game dress up days,” said Cockrell.