Student Council met as a whole for the first time this year on Sunday, November 1. The meeting was the first of the school year to include recently elected Junior and Lower representatives. Julianna Wessels ’12 and Henry Zhu ’12 are the Lower representatives and Hemand Kaul ’13 and Sirus Han ’13 are the Junior representatives. “The Lower and [Junior] reps were just appointed so they are still getting acclimated to Student Council,” said Jackie Lender ’11, an Upper representative. Student Council members discussed the upcoming School Congress, the discussion forum open to all students and faculty each term. According to Faiyad Ahmad ’10, School President, there is a pre-set agenda for the meeting, but it is subject to change. “Each individual brings their own thoughts and opinions. It is a very open meeting,” said Ahmad. At Congress, the students and faculty will divide into smaller groups to discuss the issues that Student Council deemed important to the Andover community. “[The smaller groups] give everyone a chance to talk about school issues with the faculty and Student Council,” said Ahmad. “One of the potential topics of discussion is lying within the community,” said Wessels. According to Wessels, this theme would focus on student-faculty relationships and honesty. The definition of dishonesty will be discussed—especially when concerning “white lies,” such as feigning illnesses at Isham to avoid sports commitments. Student Council also contemplated the best way to relay the topics of their meeting to the entire school. “We want to have better communication between Student Council and the rest of the student body this year to let them know what we have been doing,” said Wessels. Last spring, Ahmad set a goal to improve communications between the student body and their representatives this year. “I am trying to lay the groundwork and change the structure of Student Council so in the Winter and Spring we can work with this new structure,” Ahmad said. “I’m really pumped for the year. I’m going to use the Fall to orient myself and then the in the Spring and Winter I want to implement changes to the school,” Ahmad. “It is a learning process and I’m still figuring it out,” he continued. Another of Ahmad’s goals this year is to “proactively make a difference in the community,” he said. One initiative towards this end goal was visible in the Halloween festivities that Student Council organized for the school. Students were able to go trick-or-treating in the academic buildings where other students handed out candy. “We gave away a lot of candy and it was really fun,” said Ahmad. “This year I hope to do more fun things, like themed days,” he continued. Paul Murphy, Dean of Students and Residential Life, said, “The Student Council is working really hard this year on improving communication between kids and adults and on the issue of trying to infuse some fun into the lives of students.”
