The Palmer Student Council is a group of the student body that serve and lead the Palmer community. They organize events such as school dances and care and share as well as handle issues outside the walls of Palmer High, like talking to the school board about issues affecting the district. All these efforts require organization.
According to Kelly Cline, the general sponsor for StuCo, the student council is made up of a main cabinet and branching councils that represent the different grade levels at Palmer, who have their own presidents, vice presidents, treasurers, and secretaries that are voted on by their grade level. This main cabinet is made up of senior students who previously ran for a specific cabinet position as a Junior the previous year. This process of running for cabinet involves teacher recommendations, getting a petition signed, and having good grades. In contrast to council elections, members of cabinet are elected via schoolwide vote, involving all grade levels.
Cabinet members, before they vote, they decide on a position to run for. According to Ms. Cline, these positions include the Student Body President, the Senior Class President, the Vice President, the Chairman of Councils, the Secretary of Treasury, the Secretary of Records, the Secretary of Social, the Secretary of Publicity, the Secretary of Assemblies, and the Secretary of Morale. Although the duties of the cabinet members may vary from person to person, they all strive toward one common goal: serving the community in and around Palmer High School and leading the Palmer Community into the future.
One of the duties that achieve this end is organizing events like dances and fundraisers. According to Ms. Cline, Students will propose an event and the leading role will be passed off to the cabinet member whose jurisdiction the nature of the event falls under (i.e. the Secretary of Assemblies leading the organization of an assembly). From there, this cabinet member will create a committee who will schedule, prep, and set up the event from start to finish. This system also applies to actions like talking to the school board about the block schedule. A student will raise an issue that needs to be addressed and a committee will be created to go and talk about it at a school board meeting. In addition, members of student council have full agency in which committee or committees they are a part of.
Student council, in essence, is a form of tree. With various groups and committees branching out from one main cabinet, it allows the council to focus on multiple issues at the same time while still being efficient in how they handle said issues. Some upcoming events where students might be able to see members of the student council helping and organizing things are the Rough and Stuff, the Junior vs Senior boys volleyball match, the End of the Year Prom assembly, and Prom. If students have any concerns, questions, or comments involving or related to StuCo, you are welcome and encouraged to seek out Ms. Cline in room 004 to discuss it.