Morning meetings. Afternoon meetings. One, two, or zero meetings per week. Executive councils, director chairs, presidents, secretaries, committees. Homecoming, Halloween Fun Fairs, Easter Egg Hunts. Mrs. Lowery, Mr. Tubridy, Mr. Lambert, and Ms. Slezak. Four years, countless changes, and Student Council remains.
In recent years, Student Council has functioned under numerous moderators and varying methods of leadership. As the year winds to a close, though, council participation is growing scarce, and numbers are dwindling. However, combining past experience and present understanding, current co-moderator Ms. Elyse Slezak ’09 is hoping to revitalize Student Council for the 2025-2026 school year.
The current seniors have experienced Student Council in various forms. Their freshman and sophomore years saw the council moderated by Mrs. Anne Marie Lowery, functioning with an Executive Committee and smaller committees like Recruitment and Philanthropy feeding into the Executive. As juniors, the moderator position shifted to Mr. Mike Tubridy and Mr. Ricky Lambert. Under them, standard President and Vice President positions were introduced, having former seniors Loreto Chiovari ’24 and Celine Gauthier ’24 holding the positions initially. Finally, as seniors, the president and vice-president model has been maintained, with Abin Vargheese and Ben Konopka serving. However, co-moderators this year were Mr. Lambert and Ms. Slezak, and a minimum point-system standard was implemented.
“It’s been interesting seeing all the different ways Student Council has changed during my time as a student,” said senior Olivia Strozak, “All models have had some parts that worked well and others that did not.”
Looking to next year, there are already a few concrete changes in the works. Mr. Lambert will step down as co-moderator, and new math teacher and NHS moderator Ms. Regan Smith will step up and share responsibilities with Ms. Slezak.
“It’s hard for people to step up as leaders when they don’t know how,” said Slezak, “We are hoping to be more of an adult presence to foster those leadership skills within students and get them to where they need to go.”
As part of the restructuring, the CLC will be merging with Student Council in an effort to boost productivity and adequately address issues. All current CLC members will be automatically offered a position within the council.
In terms of functionality, this combined group will take on the responsibility of planning both Student Council events like the Halloween Fun Fair and the Easter Egg Hunt and former CLC events like intramurals and the ice cream social. The point system that functions in both groups will remain, but higher standards will be enforced and kept track of by an adult.
The program will be more organized, containing a clear handbook and pre-curated calendar. Additionally, tasks will be split between grade levels to bolster efficiency, and juniors and seniors will be allowed to apply to positions of power.
“We want students to be able to lead and to do so effectively,” said Slezak. “The goal is to make Student Council something that gets things done.”