You are scrolling on Instagram and you see the page ‘Hancockstuco.’ You click on it, and you see all these posts about these events. Things like Homecoming, the Blood Drive, and Spirit Week. Even something about the new advisors. But what is the Student Council? 

“Student Council is a group of peer-elected students who work together (along with Adult facilitators) to represent their student body. StuCo provides a voice in decisions regarding student activities and school issues while providing experience in leadership and community engagement,” StuCo co-facilitator and Art Teacher, Laura Schuhwerk said.  

Teamwork is the main factor in a club like this. Students are required to come prepared to work with their peers to make events happen. Learning teamwork is very important at high school age, as we venture off into the world. You have to be able to work with people with whom you may not like or work well with.  

“It’s important to practice working as a team in a club like StuCo to have those teamwork skills for later in life, whether that is in college, in the workforce, or another avenue after graduation; most adults would agree knowing how to work as a team is a vital part of being a positive and productive member of society,” StuCo co-facilitator and English Teacher Elizabeth McMurray said. 

Having some of the club members online and most in-person creates a larger need for teamwork. It is a brand new struggle that has been brought upon us. Learning new ways to keep the virtual people involved as much as possible has brought up much debate. The Student Council is constantly tossing ideas around to get the virtual kids involved. 

“To involve virtual students, we are hosting all of the meetings on Zoom as well as in person,” McMurray said. “Ms. Schuhwerk and I do our best to offer virtual students the chance to share their ideas and input on events during the meetings, as well as outside of meetings in our shared StuCo Google Folder. We are going to be working to plan activities where both in-person and virtual students can attend (in some format/way) and participate.” 

With this year placing us in the middle of a pandemic, planning events can be a difficult task. Even thinking of events that can take place with the restrictions is undoubtedly hard. There are many playing factors in what events we can do and what events we can’t. All need to be approved by our principal, Dr. Shelly Volger. 

“Safety and well being of our students is of much importance. We would have to look at the guidelines set forth by health and government officials, and we would respond to requests from StuCo accordingly,” Dr. Vogler said. 

StuCo is one of the very few clubs to be meeting as of now. The kids who are club thirsty are now more tempted to join StuCo, leading to the overflow of kids making their way to Miss. Schuhwerk’s classroom each Tuesday after school.

“I have been a part of StuCo since my freshman year of high school, it has been a really great and fun experience for me,” Senior Rahiem Thomas said.