Let’s be honest, the image of most student councils perceived by the student body isn’t what we would like it to be. Many students feel that the council’s primary objective is to set up homecoming week, and maybe they are right. Student councils spend a large majority of the time preparing for homecoming week, making it probably one of their top priorities for the year. But is what many forget is that councils are also responsible for handling student issues. Smaller councils don’t always have the personnel and numbers to engage in large projects or split into vast committees, leaving student relations behind. When councils do try and attend to the needs of those they represent, their efforts are not often recognized. Projects that involve community service, administrative relations, or internal affairs are not usually known to the student body, which leads the student body to formulate the opinion that councils are inactive. It must become an objective of our student governing bodies to let our efforts be recognized. One of the best ways to do that is to involve students in the process.

 Involving students in their council makes them more aware of the hard work and responsibility it takes to plan events and represent students. Some ways to improve the relationship with the student body would be holding a student appreciation day or week with planned activities and suggestion sessions for students. Another great idea is forming a public relations committee if your council doesn’t already have one. Setting up a monthly student advisory committee that would sit with your administration and select members of council to discuss student issues and school policy would help students feel that their voice was being heard. It would give the council an opportunity to connect with the students about the organization.

 There are many other ideas that are more innovative. The council could set up a website forum or Facebook group to improve direct communication between students and council. The council could venture the idea of special open lunch meetings, allowing the public to sit on meetings and debates. At meetings, the council may want to invite a reporter from the school paper or put out its own monthly newsletter. One idea that is lesser known, is the “third period representative” idea. If a council has a leadership class period to conduct business, it could invite a voted member from each class to make a monthly visit to the council’s class to report back to their third hour about student council news.

Improving the relationship between student and council brings the school to a greater level of communication. It is vital that students are aware of how they are being represented and it is vital that the council is aware of how to represent their students.