Participating in the Academic Magnet Student Council offers excellent leadership experience. It allows students to use their ideas to help form Magnet’s student life into the high school experience that students would enjoy the most. There are two different kinds of student councils at Magnet. These are the class leadership positions and the school-wide Executive leadership roles. The class-specific leadership positions are a good starting point for a student’s first time in student council/student leadership. The class leaders manage the funds, events, wall day, and more for one specific grade. However, the executive student council roles are mainly meant for upperclassmen who plan to be leaders of the entire school.

Both the Executive Student Council and the class leaders have similar positions. These include treasurer, secretary, vice president, and president. However, the executive council also has the roles of historian and community service chair.

The Treasurer handles the funds and purchases for their grade/the school. They help to plan events, like class events and wall day. The Treasurer plays a crucial role because they also manage fundraising, which is the basis of how all events can happen, whether a class event like SkyZone or the executive council’s job at organizing major school events. During my Sophomore year, my class elected me as the Treasurer, and it was a great leadership experience, but definitely more work than it seemed on the surface.

The Secretary handles some communications and takes notes during meetings. They also help plan the events. The secretary is also a good point of communication for the student council. The Secretary also does a little of everything, especially in assisting the President and Vice President.

The Vice President assists the President in leading the Student Council. The Vice President is crucial for Student Council success, as not all major leadership responsibilities can fall directly on the President. Without a strong vice president, the student council will likely not get as much done as the class or school may hope.

The Class President is the leader of the class’s student council and the class. The President organizes all of the events, instructs the other members of the council on what to do, delegates tasks to the other officers, and represents the class in the Executive Student Council meetings.

The Historian runs the Academic Magnet High School student council Instagram account and the AMHS Decisions page, which announces the college decisions of the graduating class. This role is essential in representing the school in a positive light. This role and the Community Service Chair position are only school-wide positions and not solely by class.

The Community Service Chair is also an essential role that organizes school-wide community service events. These include the blood drives with the giant posters that people see around school. This role requires a lot of work because of the back-and-forth communication with the American Red Cross to organize and plan the blood drives.

All of these positions require consistent effort and work to get things done, so first, if you do not want to put in work, do not run for student council. If you are willing to put in the work but would desire a smaller role in the student council, I recommend running for a class-specific role, like the class secretary or treasurer. After this, it would make sense to move up to either Vice President or President if that is what you desire, but it is also completely fine to not run for the office again, or to run for the same role again.

The Executive Student Council roles are the most intense, with weekly meetings during lunch and a requirement of an immense amount of motivation/strong work ethic; these roles are typically meant for upperclassmen. Specifically, the student body president is reserved for students who have already participated in the student council before in their high school career. Additionally, the executive vice president should not usually be one’s first time in student council. However, the other executive roles are significant for upper-level students who want to participate in student council before graduation and want to make a positive change/bring great ideas to the table.

When I was on student council during my Sophomore year, it was gratifying, but still plenty of work. It was complicated for me because my study hall was different, as I was also a peer mentor, forcing me to miss some of the student council meetings during 3A study hall. I do recommend attempting to participate in student council, however. Having the opportunity to spark positive changes and help my class have the best sophomore year possible was a very satisfying experience.

Molly Quinlivan has participated in Student Council for three out of the four years of high school. All three of those terms, Molly was the secretary of her respective class. Molly has helped the senior class have a great high school experience and successful spirit weeks. I asked Molly about her opinions of the AMHS Student Council to help underclassmen determine if these leadership roles are meant for them.

Molly said her favorite part of student council is wall day because

However, Molly did say, “The most challenging part is just planning stuff and making sure that everyone is at least a little bit happy with it. It’s hard to get everyone to agree, so you have to really work to compromise.” Molly makes a good point that there is some pressure in the Student Council because the class spirit week and other events are in their hands, and it can be challenging to please the entire class with the decisions. Molly said she believes it would be a fun experience, and she just wanted to be able to connect with more people. She said, “Because I started my first year, I just wanted to be able to connect with more people, and I think that it definitely helped me to do that. I would also recommend that anyone run for a position because it’s manageable and pretty fun if you make it fun.” Overall,

Molly Quinlivan and I both say if you’re ready for the work, go for it and run for Student Council!