Simon Says New Way needs a Student Government/Council. (I’ll call it a Student Council and Government interchangeably.) It would help the school function, it’s better than a leadership team, encourage student leadership, add an election, which is good PR, and take work off the teachers’ backs. Here’s why that’s all true:

First, it would help the school function. A student government could serve as the ground forces for school events instead of the uncertainty that comes with volunteers. It could help run clubs. I speak as a student who runs a club. A student council could also help the sports teams in their endeavors and help teachers/administrators with their larger projects, as again, ground forces. To conclude this section, there are an uncountable number of things that a student government could do to make the school more efficient. 

Why not just have a “leadership” team instead? Well, here are some reasons why a student government is superior. First, a leadership team doesn’t teach leadership: it teaches follow-ship. While the leadership team is valuable to the school as a group that helps out, a student council would do the same things and possibly more. The difference is increased passion, as it would be an extracurricular activity and would actually encourage leadership, not mindless help. On a student council, students have the opportunity to take leadership positions. For example, being the main speaker during an assembly, not just saying a paragraph and stopping. Another example is a StuGo student could go to a club or Grub Club and help run it, given their increased responsibility and increased helpfulness as a group. A student government member could do more and learn to be a better leader through it. Also, it opens the door to wider support for teachers and admin. 

Third, this is the smallest benefit, but it still adds to the appeal of a student government/council election. Holding a student council president, vice president, and maybe a president for some clubs could be a great event to get students involved with the operation of the campus. A debate could be held, and all kinds of campaigning. This sort of event is undeniably helpful in increasing student participation in “governance”, and is also great PR to show students can do these things. 

So, to conclude, a student government could vastly improve the campus. It would add an element of student engagement to the running of the school that hasn’t been seen for years. It would take work off the teachers’ backs. And it would just make the school function more efficiently and give students more opportunities to get involved in the running of the campus.