Students have a lot of good ideas, but sometimes it’s difficult to find the proper channels to implement them. Since the pandemic, we have heard a lot about how participation from students and teachers isn’t the same as it was before.
My classmate, Sanders Wiggins, and I experienced that firsthand and wanted to do something about it.
During the last holiday season at Texas High School in Texarkana, TX, our chapter of the National Association of Student Councils partnered with other chapters in the South—from Atlanta to Arkansas to Texas—to donate food to homeless shelters in our regions. What we learned is that when we give our best, we can have an impact, not just in our schools, but in our communities.
When our student council adviser emailed us and asked, “Do you think you could get this Student Service Grant?” of course we wanted to go for it.
After we learned we were awarded the grant, we decided to spur our love for leadership in the next generation of students. While we could have used that grant to impact our local communities, we wanted to think bigger than that.
The “Leadership Day” we hosted extended to schools up to two hours away for students in grades 3–8. We wanted to include a wide range of ages, because no matter how old you are, we all have good ideas. And true innovation happens when you can bring all these good ideas together.
The $1,000 grant helped us build a solid foundation, but we still needed more money to give these students an unforgettable experience. We created a budget and accounted for the expenses for 125 students, 40 student volunteers, adviser hospitality, and food for everyone. We solicited donations from local businesses, had local community leaders volunteer, and received support from our school which was enough to push us over the line.
Next, we created engaging leadership workshops that could teach these kids something they couldn’t just look up on their phones.
When we looked back at previous student council conventions and summer workshops, we realized the biggest impacts came from group leaders inspiring others about their passions. With that in mind, we gave creative freedom to our student volunteers but asked them to collaborate on the theme, “Get Your Head in the Game,” so our leaders could orient around our central concept.
To keep our costs low, we recycled decorations we had used before. We also leaned on popular clubs and organizations in our school to assist in creating 12 different workshops to enrich the Leadership Day experience. It took months of intensive planning to put together a cohesive program.
On the morning of the event, we had our student and teacher volunteers welcoming our attendees to the opening ceremony in our Performing Arts Center at Texas High. Sanders and I, student council president and vice president, respectively, hosted the conference
Most of the day revolved around active breakout sessions, with specifics on how students could develop projects at their campuses to strengthen their schools and communities. We learned about challenges in attendees’ schools and helped them brainstorm ideas to make a change. We gave all the other advisers our contact information so that when they start implementing these projects, we’d be available to help.
Overall, we’re proud of how successful the day was. The ultimate test will be to see what our attendees do to transform their ideas into projects that can make a difference.
The application period for National Principals Association Student Service Grants is now open. Learn more.
