With the new school year, Student Council was restructured and the Office of Student Life (OSL) was instated to engage and connect students throughout different shared activities and opportunities. 

The Office of Student Life hopes to connect the school community with a perspective beyond academics. The organization supports the creation of stronger student relationships by allowing members of different clubs and teams to collaborate on large projects such as decorating the school for various events. 

“We wanted to make an organization with a much bigger goal that looks at student engagement and maintains opportunities to get involved. So as of June 2019, we disbanded Student Council and we encouraged all those students to join other organizations, for example their class boards, honor societies, and sports teams,” said Student Life adviser Eric Biagi. 

With the change from Student Council to Student Life, more students can be involved in the larger projects that they coordinate by participating through other organizations. 

“Now the opportunities that Student Council used to provide to its members are put out to all these organizations, giving these organizations opportunities to provide points for their membership. It allows us to connect all of the 68 different organizations on campus and bring them together to create these shared experiences,” said Biagi. 

Student Life will continue to organize school events that the Student Council has done in prior years. Additionally, Student Life has created a “Student Senate” in which two representatives from each organization on campus meet to discuss events they are hosting and to raise awareness about their agendas. This allows for communication between the student body and officers of each organization. 

“Student Life still runs all the same events we did before, such as Homecoming and Battle of the Classes, but we are allowing other clubs and organizations to get more involved by incorporating more of their own members in the events for points […] The [Student Senate] poses as an open forum for students to discuss non-academic concerns within the school, as well as ways to increase student involvement within their club and within the school as a whole,” said vice president, senior Gabriella G. 

The Office of Student Life differs from Student Council as there are only six board members with the rest of the students participating through other organizations. Formerly, Student Council had a club membership of up to 250 students. 

“There is a six-person student board which are the student body officers for all the students in this building and they are elected by their peers. At the end of each school year, the student leadership board will be open to any student from grades 9-11 that would be interested and there will be an application and review process before the election,” said Biagi. 

Many students believe that the change will allow them to become more aware of the opportunities that the school provides and events they may be interested in. 

“I think that the change is good because it helps [students] know more about what’s going on throughout the school and how we can be a part of it,” said sophomore Ashley J. 🔳