Towards the end of every school year, posters go up around the school and students’ social media platforms fill with campaign videos and advertisements. Students hand out treats and ask teachers to hold up promotional signs for pictures. Everyone who has spent a year at Woodgrove knows what’s going on: it’s class council campaign season. But what exactly is it like being a class council officer?
There are five officer positions available on each class council: president, vice president, secretary/historian, treasurer, and public relations. The officers work together as a team to accomplish their goals. “For this job we represent our grade, spread school spirit and information for our grade through events, but most importantly act as a method for students to bring feedback and concerns to faculty attention,” stated junior class president Brooks Frandsen.
Running for a class council officer position at Woodgrove can be an exciting challenge. Honor Watson, the public relations officer for the freshman class, shared, “The campaigning process was a pretty big deal last year. I made a video and hung up posters, and after a couple of weeks the voting started. Overall, I had lots of fun.”
Sophomore class president Nathan Nocon agreed with Watson, saying, “I made posters, Instagram and TikTok posts, cookies, and a campaign video that was shown to the class on election day. It was stressful at times with meeting deadlines and outside factors, but it was a fun time nonetheless.”
Every fall, each class comes together to create a photo op and a mural for homecoming. This effort is led by the class councils, and for many officers, homecoming events are the highlights of their role. Kristen Burns, the vice president of the freshman class, recounted, “My favorite event so far has been homecoming because it was fun to plan out our photo op and come in to set up. It was cool to see the difference between 10:00 AM when nothing was done compared to 7:30 PM when the whole school had totally been transformed with lights, a photo booth, and games.”
The vice president of the sophomore class, Madison Rider, enjoys homecoming events because of the people she gets to meet. “The people who helped volunteer with us were so amazing. They were so kind and receptive and open to so many things. I had so much fun and I’m really thankful that I got to work with those people and get to know more students,” Rider commented.
For the junior class council, planning prom is another exciting endeavor. The officers on the junior class council this year are excited to get started with prom plans. Chelsea MacInnes, the secretary/historian of the junior class, said, “Planning prom is actually one of the things I’m most excited about this year. I hope that through the event, juniors and seniors will be able to leave this school with good memories.”
Despite the large amount of responsibility that comes with being the president of the class council that plans prom, Brooks Frandsen is not fazed. “A lot of people look forward to [prom], but I’m not worried at all,” he asserted. “I think it will be absolutely epic and easy, especially with all the ideas and help from around the school.”
Although the officers agree being on their class council is fun, it does not come without its challenges. “I would say it’s like a rollercoaster. It’s up and down,” discussed Rider. “Most of the time it is really fun because I love being able to execute leadership abilities and being able to be involved in school. Other times we can’t always agree on something, or someone doesn’t want to do something, or doesn’t have the time to put effort into it. I’d say there is a lot more that happens behind the scenes than what people think.”
As someone who has been on her class council for three years now, Charlotte Hannis has seen growth in her leadership skills and her confidence over time. She encourages students to look into running to be on their class council, especially current freshmen. “I think it’s underrated,” she remarked. “A lot of people in my class don’t participate or don’t run. If you can do it for three or four years, that is a very valuable experience.”
In this winter season, many of the councils are planning exciting holiday fundraisers and brainstorming for larger events in the spring. They are looking forward to creating memorable events for the entire Woodgrove community.
