Image courtesy of Kyle Platt, The Forest Scout

Student Council, under the administration of President JD O’Keane, launched an ambitious outreach initiative in the form of an “Ask the President” session hosted by the President himself on Thursday, Jan. 24. The initiative represents yet another push from a Student Council that has prioritized communication with the student body.

The Council’s communication agenda is largely carried out by the communications committee. Aside from promoting Student Council events such as “Ask the President,” the committee is responsible for administering and posting to Student Council’s Instagram account, which President O’Keane described as the Council’s “primary way of getting out to the student body.”

Senior Kylie Prieto, who heads the communications committee and oversees its work with Instagram and the posters it distributes around the school, agreed.

“We really just wanted more people to be aware of what’s going on in Student Council and have the ability to get involved,” she said.

Prieto pointed out that Student Council actually had an Instagram account a few years ago. She said that the Council decided to revive the account because most students use the platform and it makes it easier to “get the word out.” Communications may eventually adopt other platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat to increase coverage, she said.

Communications is one of the four committees that were created by the Student Council Executive Board at its inaugural meeting last September in an attempt to allow Student Council to operate more efficiently. The other committees are the fundraising, Scoutreach, and spirit committees.

Fundraising raises money for the senior gift, prom, and various other programs. The aptly-named Scoutreach committee focuses specifically on connecting to the student body, and the Spirit committee is tasked with promoting school spirit in a variety of ways, from dances to pep rallies.

President O’Keane expressed satisfaction with the current system. “All the committees have done an amazing job this year,” he said. “I’m really proud of all of them because we’ve really amped it up this year.”

“Ask the President” was another way that Student Council sought to reach out to the student body, the President said. Initially scheduled for the week before finals, it was delayed multiple times before being hosted during all three lunch periods on Thursday, Jan. 24. O’Keane indicated that he viewed the session as an extension of his duties as President — one of which is listening to students, he said.

“I want to hear from them,” the President said of the student body. “I’m their voice to the administration.”

Despite the fact that the event was promoted on the Council’s Instagram account, turnout was fairly low; only fifteen to twenty students attended. The President was quick to point out that he saw a great deal of room for improvement, mainly centered on more active promotion.

Attendees still gave O’Keane a “laundry list” of issues to think about, he said. Among them were greater study hall freedoms for underclassmen, improving school spirit, and the student body’s perennial public issue number one – senior parking.

On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the President met with Principal Chala Holland to discuss those concerns and others. He described the principal as receptive and eager to help.

“She’s always there to support the students,” he said. “I look forward to working with her in the future.”

Holland affirmed that she was working to bring the ideas discussed at her meeting with O’Keane to fruition. She said that she arranged a meeting within the administration to discuss senior parking prices, but offered no specific timeframe, just the assurance that she planned to continue working with Student Council.

Ultimately, both Holland and Student Council overall adviser Meaghan Laughlin said that responsibility ultimately rests with the President and his executive board.

“It’s up to Student Council to generate what Student Council wants to do,” the principal said, but “my door is always open” both to the Council and to individual students, she continued.

Laughlin emphasized the fact that “Ask the President” and the reforms that preceded it were driven entirely by O’Keane and his administration.

“I wish I could take credit for it, but I can’t,” she said.

Laughlin went on to describe her role in planning the session as entirely one of securing authorization from the school; all student organizations (including Student Council) need permission to set up tables or post flyers at school, and as the overall adviser she handles that on behalf of the Council.

O’Keane expressed a spirit of optimism moving forward. He said that he hoped to host a few more “Ask the President” sessions by the end of the year.

“There are some other ideas in mind of what we can do, but right now we’re just going to try and stick with these sessions to start,” he continued, embodying the can-do reformist attitude and pragmatic problem-solving that he and the rest of his administration have brought to Student Council.