By: Sophia David ‘21 Editor-in-chief
Although a lot may have changed over the past few weeks, we cannot forget that FCS had a student council election! After listening to four excellent speeches, the Upper School student body elected Casper Hoffman as the next president! A few days later, Student Council selected Hallie Bender, Anna Gullace, and Ruby Kauffman-Rosengarten to be the next vice presidents. It is sad to say goodbye to the old administration as they graduate, but it is exciting to welcome the new administration! Read below the notes that Emma, Reed, Ben, and Rebecca shared about their time serving as leaders and a note from the new leaders about their plans for the future.
When Mr. Dankoff told me that Student Council would have the workload of an additional class, I didn’t believe him. But boy was he right. From our Wednesday lunch meetings, monthly meetings with Ms. Beth, to (now) bi-weekly Zooms, StuCo has never left me bored. This year was undoubtedly the most fun and challenging year of StuCo, and I’ve had the pleasure to endure it with Vice Presidents Ben Miller, Reed Cooper, and Rebecca Wusinich. One of our largest accomplishments was the Snowcoming Dance, which will now continue as an annual Spirit Week tradition. As the president, I was able to oversee all of the little things that StuCo does. Behind the scenes things like set up and clean up for events are more complicated than they might seem. They include things like bringing blankets to sit on, moving the benches from the language building, getting the risers from backstage, hanging streamers, baking food, and sometimes even mopping the floor. I may be the president, but without the help of every single member of the club, nothing would ever get done.
This year has been a whirlwind. Being a senior is no joke. First semester was difficult, but no one ever told me that the second semester might be just as hard. The situation that our community and nation are in has made me realize how privileged I am to be a Friends’ Central student. On top of my love for the school, I am so unbelievably proud to be a part of the Class of 2020. Thank you for being my family. 2020 Vision. Malone out. - Emma
I had an amazing time serving as one of the Student Council vice presidents this year. It was an incredibly rewarding experience and I am so glad I took on this challenging position. My specific role was planning and running assemblies. I felt that every assembly we put on this year was extremely successful. However, I was not able to do this alone. I relied heavily on my President Emma, and co-Vice Presidents Ben and Rebecca, who constantly supported me to get everything in order on time. Although this work was challenging, the reception from the FCS community regarding all of our assemblies, events, and every issue that we solved made all the work worth it. Additionally this role forced me to step outside of my comfort zone and speak to large groups as a student leader. I am so glad I did this as I learned valuable skills, such as time management, public speaking, delegation, and so many others that I believe will prepare me as I move on to college. I am disappointed that our term was cut short due to the pandemic; however, I am glad that we are still attempting to do work virtually to enrich the community. I have no doubt that next year's Student Council leaders will do an even better job in these roles. -Reed
Serving as one of the three vice presidents of Student Council reinforced into my mind the community we have here at Friends’ Central. When initially elected into this position, I felt like I had the opportunity to continue the traditions we have here, from Screen on the Green, to the Freshman-Senior sibling assembly, to attempting to tackle different student issues brought up by fellow students. I quickly realized that my job was not only to continue traditions, but to take risks and to improve the school. Working together with Emma, Reed, and Becca, we pushed to hold the first ever Snowcoming, with attendance surpassing any event I have seen during my years at FCS. This event was created when, simply sitting at our Wednesday leadership lunch meetings, Mr. Dankoff asked if there was anything new we wanted to accomplish. Among other ideas, the proposal of a Snowcoming by Emma (beating the equally amazing End of Sea-mester Fiesta with a maritime theme) sparked excitement amongst the four of us, causing us to all work together on this project, amidst working on other upcoming plans (working to create a more clear testing schedule to create less stress, planning Coffee House, planning Spirit Week and planning the Family Feud assembly).
Snowcoming brought together every corner of the school; everybody was involved. Student Council members tirelessly sold tickets to equally eager students. Teachers volunteered to make announcements and chaperone the event. Parents provided all food and drinks. Different offices within the administration sponsored individual aspects of the night. Friends’ Central’s community came together to enjoy a night full of energy and spirit, with about half of the school in attendance!
Being a member of the Student Council leadership team has not only taught me how to work under pressure, but it also taught me how to better collaborate with peers, and how to adapt to new ideas. While it is sad to be leaving, I can assure you all that Emma, Reed, Becca and I are leaving you in good hands. The 2020-2021 administration, consisting of Casper, Ruby, Hallie and Anna, have been working hard to get ready for another incredible year in Student Council. Thank you all for providing feedback. For getting excited. For showing up. Student Council would be nothing without the student body. Not only were traditions maintained this year, but because of your help, I can confidently say that we are leaving FCS in better hands than we found it. -Ben
Being a part of the Student Council Leadership Team has been an absolutely incredible experience. Though it has undoubtedly kept me very busy, I’ve really enjoyed getting to work so closely with Emma, Ben, and Reed this year. Between our weekly Student Council meetings, the weekly Friday assembly, our meetings with Ms. Beth, and our various events throughout the year, there was quite literally always something to plan for. Yet, our lunch meetings and our very active group chat somehow always managed to keep us on track.
I am really proud of everything we have accomplished. As the Vice President of Events, my main task for the year was to make sure the Student Council annual events ran smoothly. At the beginning of the year, our main events on the calendar were Screen on the Green, Comedy Night, Coffee House, and the 9th/10th Grade Dance. Unfortunately, the 9th/10th Grade Dance had to be postponed due to COVID-19, but I am happy to report that the other events ran smoothly! I want to give a shout out to the 10th and 11th grade representatives who were really crucial in helping to plan Comedy Night and Coffee House this year. Some of you may have noticed that I left off the list Student Council’s biggest event this year… Snowcoming! Snowcoming was an absolutely new event this year that was the brainchild of Emma Malone. We knew lots of students were interested in having a school dance again, and we wanted a way to increase excitement around Spirit Week. That is why we made the decision to have Snowcoming be the Saturday night of Spirit Week. It was an absolute major success with around 300 tickets sold!!!
None of the Student Council events could have been possible without Mr. Dankoff, Ms. Socorro, Emma, Ben, and Reed. I am very grateful to all of them for their support all year. Emma, Ben, and Reed are truly such hardworking, funny, creative, and determined people, and I can’t imagine working with anyone else but them. I want to wish next year’s leaders (Casper, Ruby, Anna, and Hallie) all the success possible! -Rebecca
And now… passing it off the new administration…
Hi y’all, it’s Casper, Ruby, Hallie, and Anna here! Woohoo!
We’re happy to introduce ourselves as your next Student Council leaders :)
The four of us would like to start off by thanking Emma, Rebecca, Ben, and Reed for all their hard work and dedication to Student Council this past year. Thanks for setting such a great example for what it means to be leaders at Friends’ Central!
Get to know us and our roles a bit
Casper will be the President of Student Council, and the three vice presidents typically divide the responsibilities of events, assemblies, and student issues. However, this year, we have created a new role: Community Outreach. This role will act as a bridge between Student Council and the wider school community. The community outreach role will provide more fundraising opportunities for clubs and work to bring more voices into our meetings. Anna will be in charge of community outreach, Hallie will be in charge of assemblies, Ruby will be in charge of events, and Casper will delegate student issues that arise at FCS.
🎶 Now, let's get down to business 🎶
We really want to focus on raising school spirit at FCS. We hope to create all-school tailgates in the mornings before important league games and come up with ways to increase attendance at sport and art events.
There are many other things we’d love to implement next year, such as creating a place on Veracross for students to voice issues or suggestions to Student Council, adding more outdoor seating, planning new and exciting assemblies, making affinity groups student led, and bringing back all the successful events run by council over the years, like Snowcoming and Coffee House.
These are just a few of the ideas that we hope to implement at FCS. As Student Council leaders we really want to listen to and address your ideas and concerns, so please reach out to us if anything is ever on your mind!
-Casper Hoffmann, Ruby Kauffman-Rosengarten, Hallie Bender, and Anna Gullace.
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