The SSC bulletin is a weekly article covering the events at each Monday’s council meeting.
Members of the Student Staff Council (SSC) took their seats on Monday at 3:27 p.m. for their weekly meeting. SSC President Natalia Freedman announced that Assistant Principal for School Life Quinn Killy would be absent, due to a visit to his son, so no snacks were provided at the meeting.
This week, the council planned Valentine’s Day Candygram distribution and discussed attendance levels and reactions to the Mental Health Teach-In Day, the Winter Semi-Formal (WinFo) and the Variety Show.
The council began by reviewing WinFo’s successes and failures. They found that the photo booth was a popular part of the dance because it was interactive and fun. They were frustrated that the DJ neglected to use the playlist SSC members made for the dance and disliked that WinFo was held in the lower/middle school flex performance space rather than in the high school Black Box. The latter was set up for the Winter One-Act performances and therefore could not accommodate the dance.
Student spirit at WinFo disappointed the council, and they brainstormed methods to improve the mood for future dances. They planned to make the dance more formal and shift to a smaller venue to improve student satisfaction next year.
Additionally, the council discussed poor student attendance on Mental Health Teach-In Day and possible improvements. They debated scheduling advisory in the morning to take attendance and more communication about the event.
Despite poor attendance, SSC found the teach-in day a success because of the passionate keynote speaker, Chris Herren, a former professional basketball player who spoke about his journey out of drug addiction. The council also discussed students’ positive reactions to the Variety Show, the school’s student and staff showcase of talents and special skills.
The council made plans to leave Candygrams in each student’s first-period classroom on the morning of Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. They will set up a table in the Internet Cafe on Monday, Feb. 10 where students can pay 50 cents to write a Valentine’s Day note to another student. The recipient’s candy will come with the personalized note attached to it.
During last week’s SSC retreat on Jan. 27, the council split into four subcommittees, each with a different purpose. During this week’s meeting, each subcommittee reported their work to the full council. The groups are focused on food, mental health, community events and furniture in the high school.
The food committee discussed their plans to implement Breakfast Buddies at class meetings, during which each grade would have breakfast together. Potential food options were pastries, donuts and bagels.
The mental health committee went over ways to promote transparency in the science and math departments about the administration’s rule that quizzes must be returned to students before they take a test on the topic. They are also working to provide restocked boxes with pads and tampons in all women’s and gender-neutral bathrooms.
The community events committee began working on an all-school March Madness college basketball bracket to be sent out to students in early March. They also discussed the possibility of one-time catering by various restaurants such as Chipotle or Playa Bowls during lunch. They noted that students typically do not know when food trucks are available and may be more inclined to buy food if it is sold in the Internet Cafe.
The furniture committee decided to round up the bean bags around the school and bring them back to the Forum, as friends of several representatives had suggested. They also made efforts to get coat and bag racks for the senior corner, due to its limited space.
The meeting adjourned early at 4:09 p.m. due to the productivity of last week’s SSC retreat. The usual snack table remained empty as representatives exited the room.