National Student Leadership Week is celebrated each year during the third week of April.
The recognition began with a presidential proclamation more than 50-years-ago and was initially called National Student Government Day. Now, the week is an annual celebration acknowledging student leaders, their achievements, and their dedication to their schools and greater communities.
To celebrate student leaders in D38, the Communications Department sat down with leaders from each of our high schools’ student councils to reflect on their time leading their student bodies.
From Lewis-Palmer High School, we spoke to Student Body President, Senior Caroline Anderson, Vice-President, Senior A.J. Pepper, Junior Class President Gabby Zimmerman, and student council member, Junior Lilly Lundy. From Palmer Ridge, we spoke to Student Body President, Senior Gavin Schmidt, and Vice President, Senior Roxy Palmer.
Q: Why did you join the student council and what did you hope to gain from the experience?
Caroline Anderson, LPHS: I applied going into my Junior year because the previous year the student council was amazing and had a great student body president, who was one of my mentors. They put on an amazing Wish Week assembly and that assembly was what made me fall in love with student council because they did such an amazing job making our Wish Kid the center of the assembly and just making that kid feel so seen and loved during such a hard time in their life. So then I really wanted to have that impact on people in my community and in my school. And there’s some truly amazing people on the council and I wanted to surround myself with people who hold themselves to a higher standard to push me to be a better version of myself. Still to this day, Wish Week is my favorite week out of the whole year.
Roxy Palmer, PRHS: I joined because I think it’s so important to be able to bring your voice to something like this and be able to experience these leadership roles. It’s something that I’ve really grown in and learned from. I also just loved the whole creative aspect of student council, like all the marketing stuff. That was my first position in student council. I just had a blast being able to help the school out and plan stuff.
Gabby Zimmerman, LPHS: I joined because I did student council in middle school and it was something I loved a lot. I could see the impact it was making and one of my favorite things is getting to see the work that I do, not only benefit myself, but when a lot of other people at the school benefit from it as well. It’s shaped me into a person that I’ve wanted to become and led me to meet so many amazing people.
Q: What have you gained or learned from this experience and how do you think it will help you in the future?
Gavin Schmidt, PRHS: Some of the biggest parts of StuCo are the leadership roles and in these positions you really learn what it’s like to manage a large group with a lot of small sub-sections inside of it. Like there are chairs and co-chairs who are in charge of other groups, but you’re still managing across the group and different topics. From dances to spirit weeks, to communicating with admin, it’s really cool to be leading students but then also communicating with adults and administration in the building.
A.J. Pepper, LPHS: I feel like I’ve gained a lot as far as my communication skills and connection building with other people. I’m going to go do that kind of thing in college, so that’s a big thing for me, just being able to talk to people and connect with them and work together with people that are all different and accomplish a goal.
Caroline Anderson, LPHS: I’ve truly gained a passion for serving others. I think through student council you see the why; Why we do Harvest of Love, why we do Wish Week has made me genuinely want to serve others and be more passionate when I do it. Like we get to know our Wish Kid and we really serve them. And so I think it’s made me more aware of what’s going on in the world around me and want to help others.
Roxy Palmer, PRHS: It’s a student-led class so we’re the ones leading the class and there’s a lot of responsibility I think we’ve both learned about this year. We’re the ones communicating with administration about our plans and communicating what the council is bringing to us. We’re kind of the middle man. So, we’re learning about responsibilities of meeting deadlines and things like that, and the leadership is a huge facet. So we’re making sure we’re really conscious of that. And we’ve really learned about communication skills as well.
Q: What are some of the things you are most proud of that you have accomplished or helped accomplish during your time in student council?
Caroline Anderson, LPHS: Wish Week is really my favorite week of the year because the whole student body comes together, and rarely does everyone gather around one cause. Every group of students gets involved in Wish Week and I think it’s really cool to see how passionate everyone is, especially on assembly day when the Wish Kid comes in and everyone is going crazy. So I think just getting everyone involved and having people be passionate about our Wish Week, making the kid feel so welcome is the best. This year, I was talking to our Wish Kid and his mom and he really said it was just the best day ever and now he wants to come to school at LP. So just seeing the impact we had on this one kid was so, so cool. And I think that speaks to what our council has done more than breaking fundraising records or StuCo gold. I think the impact we’ve had on individuals like that is what I’m most proud of.
Roxy Palmer, PRHS: I think definitely our fundraising is something we’re most proud of as a council, just because we’re so strong at it. Our Folds of Honor fundraiser was the thing that touched me the most, the impact we made. We’ve had families and children who are directly impacted by that organization be there and be a part of the school, and seeing how much our effort and fundraising affects them, I think was one of the most amazing things our council achieved.
Q: The students at both LPHS and PRHS seem very involved in school activities and genuinely excited to be a part of them. Is that an accurate assessment, and do you think you as the student council are responsible for creating or nurturing that culture?
Gavin Schmidt, PRHS: I think there is an argument that Gen Z is a bit more into and things and participates more. But I do think the culture here is really built around school spirit and helping each other out and caring about people. That’s not present everywhere, but I do think it’s cool to see how much that is present here and how much people care about each other and are willing to help out the school and get excited for sporting events, assemblies, fundraising weeks, and obviously dances. Students really get into things here.
Roxy Palmer, PRHS: I genuinely think it’s just an energy level. Everyone just brings energy because they love to be a Bear and they love to be a part of Palmer Ridge. I think it’s really just something that everyone is proud of.
A.J. Pepper, LPHS: I think it depends. Sometimes we don’t think we’re getting a lot of school involvement, and that’s when we come together as a council to really try to connect with others and create school spirit and a welcoming environment to allow others to feel comfortable. We are one school and one positive, you know, we’re the Lewis-Palmer Rowdy Rangers. We all care for each other and want to be there for each other.
Gabby Zimmerman, LPHS: There are some times when people don’t care as much about certain things. But I do think that we all have and do help build that community here. I think social media helps a lot, especially like when we’re doing trending stuff. It seems like it continues to grow every year, because I think we’ve all seen from our freshman and sophomore years how big the culture is and we keep it going.
Q: What advice would you give to other students who want to be leaders and join student council?
Lilly Lundy, LPHS: I would just say that if you’re passionate about helping others, definitely go for it and try to impact others and share your ideas.
Gabby Zimmerman, LPHS: I would say take the risk and do it. There’s a spot for everyone. We need the people who are super creative, the people who are organized, we need the people who are funny to lighten the mood when things get serious. You never know what spot you could fill if you don’t try.
Caroline Anderson, LPHS: I’m a firm believer that you get out of LP what you put into it. I look at things as like, yeah I get to do this. I truly enjoy coming to school. Dress up days? Heck yeah, let’s do this. I think joining student council gives you so many opportunities to grow as a person and really just enjoy high school. There are so many fun opportunities you get from student council that you wouldn’t if you weren’t in it. It’s 100 percent worth it.
Gavin Schmidt, PRHS: If you’re looking to be a part of leadership for the student body, or have influence or make a change, or even just be a part of the council and help out, we would love to have you. We’re always looking for students who are energetic, excited, and have a desire to help other people. That’s what we are as the student council. We’re not here for ourselves, we’re here to support the student body. I highly recommend it. It is a wonderful process of growing as yourself, but also providing for others.
Roxy Palmer, PRHS: What I love about the council is that we are able to be representative of every kind of person. So if you feel strongly about something and want to advocate for it in the student body, you should join student council. You don’t have to be a super extroverted person to be able to be in it and contribute.