The Walpole High School Student Council was recently awarded the Gold Council of Excellence Award and Top Ten Project Award at the MASC Conference in Hyannis, Massachusetts from March 6th through the 8th. The gold award is the highest state level possible, and is given only to the top rated student councils throughout Massachusetts. Walpole StuCo also received the Top Ten Project award for their Girl’s Night Out event, held last April. A year ago at MASC, Walpole received the Silver Council of Excellence Award, and three years ago the council was only a “Council of Excellence.” Receiving both awards is a testament to how much the council has grown and improved within the past six years with Ms. Kerry Mcmenimen as the advisor.
The Massachusetts Association of Student Councils (or M.A.S.C.) is comprised of member schools representing the four regional student councils of Massachusetts: the Southeast, Central District, Northeast, and Western Councils (SEMASC, CDMASC, NEMASC, and WMASC). Providing one of the nation’s most highly regarded programs of activities for middle schools and high schools, the conference offered major opportunities for students to learn and apply leadership skills.
Lead by President Katie Alfond of North Middlesex Regional High School and an entire executive board of leaders from around the state, the conference provided the top councils in Massachusetts the opportunity to showcase their ideas and learn how to become better leaders. The councils were presented with leadership workshops and inspirational speakers, including Johan Neus, a man who grew up in Chicago and overcame all odds to become a man of pride and moral. Junior Maggie Moriarty said in regards to the whole conference, “MASC was probably one of the most memorable experiences I’m going to have from high school. Constantly meeting new people and stepping out of your comfort zone in the workshops was different but it helped us all learn a lot.”
On the last day of the conference, the WHS Student Council was awarded the Gold Council of Excellence—something that had been a goal of the council’s since falling only a point short of gold a year ago. The award shows just how far the council has come in six years under Ms. Mac, and Moriarty said, “It felt really great to win gold, especially because we thought we should have won it last year. Everyone was ecstatic to find out that all of our hard work had finally paid off.” On top of winning gold, the council also won the Top Ten Project Award—an award given to the ten best projects of the year, chosen by the MASC board. Walpole High won for its Girls Night Out Event, which is held in order to give girls prom tips and donate prom dresses for those who cannot afford to buy new ones.
This year, Walpole High School brought sixteen delegates, all of whom were upperclassman—eight boys and eight girls. Junior Siobhan Kemple said, “It was a great experience and really taught us all a lot about how to be better leaders at our school. Hopefully we can take what we learned and use it to make our council even better next year.”
The Student Council’s events, fundraisers, and activities throughout the year have rightfully led to this coveted award, and will serve as motivation for the council in future years. Ms. Mac said, “Student Council doesn’t have a dance or end of the year show to showcase their talent like a lot of other clubs and teams, so this is their chance to get recognized.” Although many leaders of StuCo will graduate and new students will continue to take their places, Ms. Mac will continue to advise the council and strive to help maintain their status in the state as a Gold Council of Excellence for years to come.
