As we all know, the 2020 school year has brought us many new changes that never seem to end. These changes have influenced everyone in the school system, and clubs are no exception to that.

Student Council is one of the most prominent clubs at our school, with members ranging across all four grades. This year, their President is senior Raeghan Jefferson. Jefferson was kind enough to sit down with us and answer some questions regarding the 2020-2021 school year and how Student Council will progress with new restrictions.

What annual events have been/do you anticipate to be canceled this year and which ones are staying?

“Ever since the student council started we’ve always had a mission of giving back to the community. Although it would be easy to not require our members to participate in service, we wanted to follow through with our mission. With that, we decided to keep our annual food drive, promote the fisher’s park and recreation volunteer opportunities, and increase our general council population to allow more students to get involved. The second part of our student council mission is to bring the community together. Although we would like to keep many of the events that allow us to bring our school together, due to COVID and social distancing guidelines we will not be able to do that. Things such as our Homecoming dance, pep rally/ royal tailgate/ and royal Olympics would have to be canceled.”

Of the ones that are staying, what changes are you making to them to make them COVID safe for students?

“To make sure our volunteers and community help reduce the spread of COVID-19, we are requiring our volunteers to wear masks and social distance when possible. Additionally, for food drive, we are following sanitation guidelines and wiping off and cleaning all donations. Finally, our 50+ member council is currently meeting virtually rather than gathering in person.”

What was the thought process or decisions of your team and the sponsors for canceling events such as homecoming?

“Our journey of canceling events such as homecoming was long and drawn out. Being that homecoming is one of the biggest events the student council produces and one of the biggest events the student body looks forward to, it was heartbreaking to cancel it. The date was constantly pushed back and reevaluated but hosting a dance for 3,000+ people just didn’t seem possible. Although it may be canceled as of now, Student Council is always prepared to put on a good dance!”

Have you seen any bright sides come from COVID for Student Council that you weren’t expecting but are grateful for?

“I think COVID has been a really great opportunity to bring people together. We’ve seen a lot of interest in our club since people are wanting to find ways to give back to their community. This introduced us to so many awesome people in our school that find joy in philanthropy and allowed us to grow as a council!”