#FEATURE | SC Cares: Our Current Student Council
By Julia Buenaventura
You may know them as the people in the grandstand during flag ceremonies held in the field, or as the familiar black icon in Pisay Direct updating you about all sorts of announcements. Overall, the Student Council (SC) has become a reliable source of information when it comes to school activities.
Behind this helpful unit, however, are people who were selected by the student body the previous school year. These students had the will to serve the school community and acted upon it by taking the opportunity to run as a candidate for their chosen position.
Their Reason
Most officers explained that they ran for the SC due to the opportunity arising. Others wanted to run because they wanted to challenge themselves and others simply wished to run due to their want to lead and serve the school community.
“Sometime earlier last year, may sinulat ako about how student leadership could be more than just planning events, which was published in [The Science Scholar],” said Ralph Flores, SC president. “Dumating yung election period and UNLAD was looking for a presidential candidate. I was helping them look for one at first, but then wala talagang willing. And I was like, ‘If I really believed in what I wrote, edi might as well do it, ’cause no one else would.’”
Meanwhile, Josh Ludan, SC vice president, said that it was due to his experience as his batch’s president back when they were in Grade 9. “I did it because I thought there were a lot of things–issues–that needed to be addressed by the community. After that experience, I went for SC naman for the same reasons and I’ve been here ever since.”
Managing the Workload
As expected, being in the SC has its risks. Aside from the ever-increasing workload of students, the SC Officers also have to think of projects to execute and ways to help the student body. Despite this, they have continued to push through with their projects with the help of their fellow officers.
“I’ll admit that it gets tiring, especially when work coincides with hell week and exams, but it’s worth it. […] Seeing the smiles on students’ and teachers’ faces when we’re doing our projects really makes me smile as well because it helps remind me that what I’m doing is for them, and that makes all the stress worth it,” said Janine Liwanag, SC auditor.
“Unlike regular requirements, SC requirements are pretty flexible. You can do them whenever you’re available,” said Ludan. “The support of your fellow SC members is also pretty helpful.”
Their Projects
The projects they have executed thus far include the SC Staff, volunteers from the student body who help the SC in the execution of their projects.
Some said this was the most notable project. “It’s something new and hasn’t been done by any previous SC, so it really was exciting to plan out,” Liwanag said. “What I also really like about the [SC] Staff is that almost all batches are currently represented, which is very helpful when we’re implementing projects [as] we can already have an idea of what’s going on in each batch and we also have more manpower and connections to certain teachers or students.”
Another project was 12 Days of Christmas, which was held at the start of December, leading up to the Christmas break. It was intended to spread joy to students during the days before the periodic exams by holding small activities everyday, like giving out free hot chocolate and even having their very own Santa Claus.
During this, they also had a candy cane delivery service, where students could have candy canes sent to their friends (or themselves, if they desire) with a note, to be delivered in class.
The 12 Days of Christmas also ended with The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Christmas costume party. The party originally intended to be the Halloween party last October 30, which was suspended due to inclement weather.
Most of the SC officers considered 12 Days of Christmas to be their most notable project among those that they have implemented.
Bertrand Diola, SC treasurer, said that he loved the 12 Days of Christmas due to events like the Candy Cane Delivery Service, and simply giving bibingka to teachers. “I loved hearing the yieee’s whenever a student received a candy cane, or when we made the teachers and school employees smile despite it being the ISO auditing day. I also felt that I was able to bond more with the SC and the Staff as we helped each other accomplish the different events.”
The SC, however, revealed that they did not have much to contribute in required activities, such as Humanities Week and YMSAT Week. “We don’t have any strong particular responsibilities in these events because they’re already being handled by a specific committee or unit,” explained SC secretary Andrea Robang.
“If it’s a general school event though that might mean we contribute to it more directly. For all of these events though, our involvement is limited to maybe encouraging students to participate,” Robang continued.
The SC Cares
The SC can, however, take feedback from the students and address issues through their platform, SC Cares. SC Cares is an online form that can be completed by anyone in the Pisay community, giving the students a proper platform to voice out their concerns that they wish to be addressed.
“[SC Cares is] very helpful. Since we don’t really see and hear all the concerns and questions of the Student body, through SC Cares mas naliliwanagan kami about the issues sa school and whenever may meeting din kami with admin or ManComm may napapakita kaming feedback from the students and nakakatulong talaga siya sa communication with admin and students,” said Jansen Serdoncillo, SC club coordinating head.
There is a lot of work that goes into the projects, and in combination with the amount of requirements of an average Pisay student, the SC officers do not have it easy.
When asked how they are able to manage this, most mentioned how the members of the SC help each other in carrying the load assigned to them.
“It’s a lot, but I think it’s just being willing to dedicate myself to all of these activities that keeps me going,” said Robang. “Time management, delegating tasks and knowing what motivates you at the end of the day is the more practical answer though.”
The Pisay community requires hardworking and efficient leaders to ensure that progress is made. These individuals were selected by the students themselves to work into making PSHS a better place for everyone. This current Student Council has succeeded in such, offering their time and service to the Pisay community.
DISCLAIMER: This article was written last S.Y. (S.Y. 2018–2019)
