Lessons Learned by the HS Executive Board

By Senior Evie Fordham

As the school year draws to a close, so do the terms of the dedicated 2014-2015 High School Executive Board officers, all four of whom graduate this year. The seniors on the Executive Board represent the students who valued their positions in student government the most and put in enough time to qualify to run for Executive Board, a governing body over the twenty-person High School Student Council.

Student Council sponsor and math teacher Wanda Lucas explained, “Executive Board is ‘over’ all of the individual  class officers. They are in charge of making sure tasks that the entire Student Council are responsible for get taken care of.

“We all work together, but as the advisors we have to look to someone to ‘take charge’ to lead the ship — and that would be the Executive officers.”

In order to run for an Executive Board position, which can only be held by a junior or senior, a student must have been a member of Student Council for at least one year. The four seniors on Executive Board this year, President Luke Ryals, Vice President Haley Bennett, Secretary Trey Russell, and Treasurer Jonathan Earnest had enjoyed their time in Student Council so much that they decided to take it to the next level and run for Executive Board. Two of these officers, Luke Ryals and Trey Russell, shared their thoughts about Student Council.

“I have been on [Student Council] since tenth grade,” said Luke. His advice to the officers of next year is to “be yourself, stay grounded in the Word, and seek guidance from teachers, parents, but most of all, God.”

Trey Russell began his Student Council career his junior year. For him, the most rewarding part of his position is “learning about how leadership works and how to lead by serving.”

Trey also has some words of advice for anyone considering running for a position in student government.

“Run for Student Council,” he admonished, “Keep trying if you don’t get it the first time because I ran from sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth grade, tenth grade, and then finally got it for eleventh grade, so just keep it up. Persevere.”

As the words of both of these young men show, pursuing a position in student government is fulfilling and educating, and the officers will take the skills they gain through Student Council with them as they excel beyond the walls of Wake Christian Academy.