The SSC bulletin is a weekly article covering the events at each Monday’s council meeting.
Student Staff Council (SSC) representatives gathered in room 104 for their weekly Monday meeting at 3:30 p.m., which began after Assistant Principal for School Life Quinn Killy handed out the day’s snack: animal crackers, pretzels and carrots.
The SSC meeting covered a range of topics, including club funding limits, new vending machines without mobile payments and grade-wide events. Representatives also discussed ideas such as bringing a therapy dog to school and adding a Quizlet Plus subscription for all students.
SSC President Natalia Freedman called on treasurer Jeremiah Farr to begin the meeting with the first of roughly 12 items on the agenda. Farr explained that he needed one SSC member from each grade to serve on a committee to decide funding allocations to student clubs. A grade dean would also be included on each committee.
(Farr is a managing editor and Freedman is an opinions editor for the Bit, neither read nor edited this article prior to publication.)
As of the publication of this article, only Model United Nations (MUN) and the eMotorsport club have requested funding, although the request form was sent out to the community a day prior to the meeting. The maximum amount of money a club can request is $500 however, SSC may advocate on behalf of a club to the administration if the club needs more than $500. The eMotorsport club requested $500 and MUN estimated they would need $2,000 to $4,000.
Farr sent an email on Nov. 10 with requirements for club funding, which include a faculty advisor, regularly scheduled meetings and “a purpose which furthers or is consistent with the mission of the school.”
The council also discussed a plan to get vending machines with healthy food in the school. Killy told the council he was in discussion with two companies, Wellfound Foods and Farmers Fridge, and clarifying possible contracts.
When Killy explained to the student council members that he had been exploring whether these machines could have their tap-to-pay functions disabled between 8:00 a.m. and 3:15 p.m., some representatives let out an audible groan.
Disabling tap-to-pay would prevent students from using mobile payments, such as Apple Pay, in accordance with the phone ban.
Multiple members of the council voiced concerns that disabling tap-to-pay could prevent some students from using the machines, as many students exclusively use mobile payments. “We are exploring possibilities and we are having conversations with them about their different payment options,” Killy said in an interview with the Bit.
Freedman, addressing the council and Killy, told the council that she would rather have school funding go to a Quizlet Plus subscription than new vending machines. Quizlet Plus is a paid subscription that offers additional tools on the study platform.
Killy said the two were not mutually exclusive, and that the new healthy vending machines could possibly cost nothing. In an interview with the Bit, Killy added that the contract with the current vending machine providers is ending.
The council discussed the rest of their agenda, including Mental Health Teach-In Day, the community Wii console, a variety show, issues with the Blackbaud MyGDS sign-in and the winter raffle. Afterward, they broke into grade-level discussions.
Freedman told the Bit her plan for a therapy dog to come to the school was delayed due to scheduling issues with the dog’s handler. She said the dog would come sometime before winter break during community time.
Each grade’s four representatives discussed grade-specific topics. The freshmen discussed a possible 9th-grade winter celebration. The sophomores discussed their SSC office hours potluck, planned grade bonding in December and discussed the possibility of having a grade-wide Secret Santa. The juniors also discussed Secret Santa and deliberated about a grade-wide sports tournament. The seniors discussed having their class make gingerbread houses.
At 4:30 p.m., the grade-specific discussions wrapped up and Killy encouraged council members to take more carrots, noting that plenty were still left from the start of the meeting.