Here are the interviews for your 2014-2015 Secretary candidates: Jane Henderson and Jane Cook. As you read their responses, keep in mind the duties of the Student Council Secretary, who must:

• Report to the President and Advisor weekly regarding individual and committee activity – must attend all Cabinet meetings, full Council meetings and respective committee meetings.

• Chair the Communications Committee, which creates and distributes internal and external communications of Council and publicizes events along with the Events Committee.

• Keep a detailed record of all full Council meetings
• Type and distribute these records (minutes) to each member by email and post them on the Student Council website.
• Recite motions brought before Council.
• Handle all correspondence between Student Council and outside groups or individuals (i.e., thank yous or sympathy notes).

Think about this as you read what the Janes have to say.

Jane Henderson

What do you intend to do when you get to office?

Hopefully, when I become secretary for Student Council, I want the school community to be more involved in everything. I want the whole student body to have a say in what Student Council does and with the larger, more fancy events, I want to ensure that everyone has a chance to get involved.

Why are you running for Student Council Office?

I am running for Student Council because I’ve been in it since my freshman year, and I see things and ideas that work and ones that do not and really want to help expand the things do, and as I said before, I really want to help make sure everyone gets involved with what they are doing and I want to help the school community grow and have the school be closer with each other.

What activities are you in beside Student Council and how will that affect your ability to lead and direct the activities of Student Council?  

Besides Student Council, I have been a freshman mentor since my sophomore year and have also been on the Harriton cross country team, indoor track and girls’ lacrosse. I was a captain for cross country, so I have experience with being a leader. I also like that by being a leader, you get to meet and know the younger students that you would not meet otherwise. I believe that I am good at being friendly and getting involved with everyone and helping everyone mesh together.

With the arrival of a new superintendent, do you plan on having increased communication between the superintendent’s office and the student body?

Yes, I think with the arrival of a new person that you make sure to communicate and as I said before with making sure the school know what is going on, you also want to make sure that the superintendent knows what is going on so that way everyone can work together and make the whole experience more fun.

Jane Cook

What do you intend to do when you get to office?

If I’m elected into office, I plan to keep Student Council as organized, orderly, and effective as possible. Working alongside some of the best representatives in our school, I intend to make sure that the voices of the students from all grades of Harriton are heard. In addition, since the position of Secretary is the Head of Communications, I intend to keep an open and direct line between myself, the officers, our advisors, and all of those who we come in contact with. I think it’s incredibly important to be responsive as officers to the rest of our Council, our school, and those that make it such an incredible place.

Why are you running for Student Council office?

I’m running for Secretary because I feel that I would prove to be the most effective in the position. I’m extremely hardworking, diligent, and my ears will always be open to those who feel that they have new ideas or suggestions to improve Council or our school. I also don’t believe in false promises, so I won’t make any that I am not 100% positive that I can keep. But I do know this: if given the opportunity to represent Harriton as its Secretary, I promise to work my absolute hardest to give our students, of all grades, the best year that we can achieve.

What do you think are shortcomings of previous officer teams and how do you intend to fix them?

As a previous member of Council, I know that not everything runs smoothly all the time, so I feel that I am not in the position to criticize the actions of past officers. But I do know that some mishaps occurred in regards to communication between officers and their own committees, and members of Council felt that they didn’t do enough because they weren’t given the opportunities to. As Secretary, I would never let this happen. I don’t want any member of Student Council feeling as if they don’t have opportunities to be active in events – in other words, I think that the more people participate in the planning process, no matter how little the job, the more the student body will enjoy the events.

With the arrival of a new superintendent, do you plan on having increased communication between the superintendent’s office and the student body?

As students, I think that we have a lot of power and say about how our school should be run, but we just don’t realize it. I think the Superintendent’s portrayal of his message that the district is changing is incredibly important, because it gives the student body an opportunity to express their ideas and thoughts about possible changes in our school in a way that they never thought was possible. I admire his openness about his own ideas, and as Secretary, I would take the propositions that we come up with in council from the members and the student body and relay them back to those in a higher power who can help us achieve our goals faster, because that’s what is going to be most important in helping us have the best year possible.

Once again, here are the interviews for your 2014-2015 Student Council Secretary Candidates. Let us wish the candidates good luck on their campaigns.