Pep rallies and themed costumes. Posters and banners. Student Council is an essential part of Wando school spirit.
However, this year has brought on a new perspective along with new leadership. Victoria Mullin, one of the current sponsors and Wando media art teachers, has some fresh ideas for the council.
“[Former adviser Hannah] Brisini has left some great groundwork for things like competitions and procedures, but we’re trying to come up with some new things that are more accessible to everyone in the student body and not just necessarily the student council kids,” Mullin said.
She has also proposed unique concepts for this year such as freshman sunrise. “So, as a freshman, you come to the sunrise. As a senior, you say goodbye to the sunset. Imagine having those pictures of your baby face… during freshman year versus senior year,” Mullin said.
She even plans to partner with Wando’s exceptional education department and Sea Coast Church in hosting a Night to Shine dance. Mullin further strives to shine a light on participation in school wide events such as spirit week by making the themes simple and effortless to dress up for.
“If you don’t have it, your mom has it or your grandma has it. Somebody in your family has it… the goal this semester [is] that we have a lot of participation because it’s low hanging fruit. It’s easy to do,” Mullin said.
Junior Romy Thomas is the co-spirit chair for Student Council, and has noticed a shift in participation this year as well.
“I feel like this year, we’re really trying to make this year’s themes more conventional. You don’t just dress up for game days, like the theme at the game, but we’re also encouraging students to dress up [that] day at school,” Thomas said.
Past years, Thomas recounts spirit week being stressful, for it was chaotic. They tended to wait until the last minute to design their informational social media posts and Google Forms. However, this year, they began preparing months in advance.
“This year, we did a pretty good job with making sure that everyone has a checklist for Spirit Week… It’s very different from what it’s been,” Thomas said.
Another member of the council, junior and secretary Kate Paczkowski, also thinks that Student Council has undergone a giant change.
“I feel like everything’s running so much more efficiently. This year, we want to get general members more involved. The big difference is that we actually interact with the general members,” Paczkowski said.
During Spirit Week this year, members of the leadership board have begun new traditions as well. They have bought a T-shirt cannon for pep rallies and special events, while also passing out candy and other treats at lunch.
“[This year] I feel like we have so much more going on… and the participation is actually so much better this year,” Paczkowski said.
However, Paczkowski agrees that all of this could not have been possible without Mullin, one of their new advisers.
“[Mullin] has so many different ideas to bring advocacy to the exceptional education department. She just brings so many new ideas, she did with mental health awareness. She listens to our input and if we want to do something, she’s ready to make it happen,” Paczkowski said.
As a junior, Paczkowski has only one year left until she graduates. However, she is excited to see the future of the Council that Mullin will create.
“We have a lot of really invested freshmen and Ms. Mullin, [our] adviser, and it’s only getting better year after year,” Paczkowski said. Paczkowski said that Wando Student Council is like a family to her.
“[Student Council] means a lot to me. I feel like I put a lot of work into it and I’m really proud of what we do,” Paczkowski said.
