Middle School Student Council
Middle School Student Council may be just a name, but it has a lot of history behind it. It all started almost right after Dallastown Middle School opened. In 1971, Mr. Fred Wilt started it. Mr. Wilt, Miss Leslie Brant (presently known as Mrs. Trimmer), and Mrs. Sue Cathcart were involved in it at the very beginning. "We were involved in district conferences, which included nine other counties. We were known throughout the state, and kept building up through the years, even on present day," remarked Mr. Wilt.
The reason Mr. Wilt started Student Council was to "get involved in other activities other than academics." Mrs. Cathcart also said it was for "teaching leadership, helping the community (for charitable efforts), and helping the school."
"The students that participated in student council elected their own officers. Then, in 1980, the student body voted for the officers," replied Mr. Wilt. "Today we use an application process," exclaimed Mrs. Cathcart.
The jobs of the non-officers were to "brainstorm ideas for spirit days and dances," said Mr. Wilt. Mrs. Cathcart also replied that "homeroom representatives were to keep their homerooms informed" of what was going on.
Mr. Wilt explained that in order to get in student council, "you had to be interested in it, be committed to your work, and maintain a C average." Mrs. Cathcart added that, "You need to be willing to work, be a role model (gradewise), and have good behavior."
"Our goal was to get as much of the student body to be involved in spirit days and other projects," replied Mr. Wilt.
Is there a limit on how many people could be in student council? Well, Mr. Wilt gave us an answer: "When we first started, there was only one representative and one alternate, then in 1975, it changed to only one representative per homeroom." It seems that there can be a variety of kids in student council. "This year we have forty-five students participating in student council," Mrs. Cathcart said.
She also said that meetings were held at various places. Mr. Wilt was saying that used to be in "room 201, then later switched to room 222 (the art room)."
What kind of subjects did they discuss at these meetings? Mrs. Cathcart replied, "present projects being worked on." Mr. Wilt said, "Representatives brought suggestions from their homerooms." They wanted to make the school "more interesting and fun."
But where does all the money come from? Well, both Mr. Wilt and Mrs. Cathcart replied that they are "self-funded" doing spirit days and selling Hershey Kisses.
The jobs of the advisors were to "give ideas and support and help with projects," explained Mr. Wilt. "The teachers are motivators. Without them, projects would never be successful," Mrs. Cathcart remarked.
Student Council was, and still is, a great activity for students to be involved it. It is surely to be successful for years and years to come. Hopefully, student council will have more and more different ideas for everyone to enjoy.
