The goal of a student council is to make your school better.
Some councils are more active than others, and some take the opportunity to improve more than their own school.
Two members of Malcolm High’s student body are part of the District 6 student council, meeting with members of other councils across the district, sharing ideas and talking about what works and doesn’t.
MHS Senior Gavin Zoucha is the district president, and fellow senior Danielle Fortik serves as secretary.
The district includes Lancaster, Seward, Cass, York and Hamilton counties. Fortik said the goal is communication between the schools in the district.
The two are the first representatives from Malcolm on the district council. Malcolm student council advisor Kim Watson is the advisor for the district.
“We talk about different ideas to improve student council,” Zoucha said of the monthly meetings.
Originally, they met in person, but Covid-19 moved everything online.
As president, Zoucha is responsible for setting the meeting agenda. Fortik takes and shares notes from each meeting.
Both were looking forward to the state convention, which will be in person at Millard South. The host school will set up the convention, Zoucha said.
“It will be interesting to hear from the Omaha schools,” Fortik said.
Hearing from the other schools is one of the highlights, both Zoucha and Fortik said. Participating members usually share activities and fundraising events.
“Any time we hear a new idea, we see if we can execute it,” Zoucha said.
Fortik said a lot of the ideas are similar, but at the last meeting, someone suggested a ping pong tournament, which the Malcolm representatives were interested in.
Fortik said a lot of the bigger schools’ student councils host dances. In Malcolm, the cheerleaders usually coordinate the dances.
Fortik said the district council has given the schools a chance to speak up and share what they’re doing.
Before Covid, Watson said, the district council got together once a year. Its fundraisers focus on the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which is the state’s charity of choice.
Zoucha said district council president has been a good leadership position for him.
“The meetings are a good opportunity to speak, to be heard,” he said.
He has enjoyed the experience of leading people and seeing how effective he could be.
Hosting meetings has been fun, he said. He’s enjoyed the icebreakers, which give the members a chance to get to know each other.
Outside of the two from Malcolm, the other officers come from Lincoln schools. Norris is also pretty active. Fortik said it’s a good network to build.
“It’s good leadership opportunities,” Fortik said.
The last meeting had 30 people attend, she said. Normally, there are 10-12, but Zoucha said it’s better to have more.
“More people, more ideas,” he said.
Both said the experience will likely help them as they move on to college and into a career. Fortik wants to be an orthodontist.
“When you go to college, you have to get to know people,” she said.
Zoucha hasn’t decided on a career yet.
“A sense of leadership will help wherever I go,” he said.
Watson said anyone curious about the district council or who wants to get involved can contact her at kim.watson@mps148.org.
“I would like more participation from the smaller schools,” she said.
