Ms. Mac (Kit Bowie) led Student Council for decades at Doherty, in her own way and with her own style. Recently, she retired, and Ms. D. Medberry took over, planning to do things differently.
Student Council is a class of elected student leaders that happens during 8th period. There are a couple of new systems that students seem to appreciate. Sophomore Sylvia Pado shared, “We are planning new activities such as class points.” She explained that each class (freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors) has a teacher who is their class sponsor. When the students do well at assemblies or events, they earn points. At the end of the year, the winning class earns a prize.
Students enjoy having positions of leadership in the StuCo cabinet. “I was not in StuCo last year, but what I have noticed is it’s a lot more student-run and we have a lot of say in what we do and how we do it which I really like. I think that contributes to how great our student section is this year, and the activeness among the student body in general,” senior Maizey Gufarotti said.
At the same time, some things stayed the same. Medberry said, “There are not too many major changes to the Cabinet and Council. We have the same positions we have had for the last 20+ years. As the new advisor I am honoring the traditions that Doherty has had, but updating some and creating some new ones as well.” She went on to explain the class point system, or Battle of the Classes, as she dubbed it.
This system helps keep students on track and focused. It encourages them to participate, motivated by that end-of-year prize. And they have reason to stay focused—their schedule is packed. One task they have to keep up with throughout the year is “getting everyone at the games,” senior Taya Robinson explained.
As of now, they are planning for Homecoming Week, a big and spirited event here at Doherty. After that, they will be focusing on the Halloween season, organizing the Haunted Halls/Safe Trick-or-Treat that they will be co-hosting with NHS (National Honor Society). Still after that, in November, they will be working on the Harvest of Love for the entire month. They will organize events like the pasta dinner and the Harvest of Love lip sync battle while raising money for the Care and Share food bank. “When we are not planning for specific events we work on leadership skills and are always looking for community service opportunities,” Medberry said.
Student Council also brings a lot of energy to the student section at sports events. People from all grades show up at sporting events to show some school spirit. “My favorite thing is to just see how big of a student section we have at games and how fun it is to cheer and be up there with the rest of cabinet, knowing everyone in Student Council this year directly impacts the turnout of the games,” Gufarotti said.
Students appreciate the new system that Ms. Medberry implemented. It makes things more organized and productive. Pado said, “I prefer Council this year because we have many big plans and it has been full of fun and engaging events.”
Students seem to love this version of StuCo. Robinson said, “I think StuCo is really fun, I love the positive energy everyone has. It’s such a good environment.”
