Get On Student Council

Being on student council can be a great way to build your resume. It looks great when applying to colleges or jobs. To get on student council, research your school and the available positions, spend time preparing, and run a respectful campaign.

Steps

Campaign Help

Doc:Student Council Platforms,Campaign Slogans,Campaign Advice

Sample Campaign Materials

Doc:Student Council Campaign Poster,High School President Speech,High School Treasurer Speech

Doing Your Research

  1. Familiarize yourself with the available positions. Student council comes with a variety of available positions. From president to treasurer, learn about the available spots to see where you would best fit in the world of student politics.
    • The president of student council is generally responsible for arranging and running meetings with other student council members, making sure everyone does their job, and approving any events, fundraisers, budgets, or other plans and decisions made by student council. The vice president essentially assists the president with his or her duties.
    • The class secretary should be a very well organized person who's good at taking notes. Your job is to take minutes at meetings, keep student council related materials organized, getting important information to class officers, and scheduling meetings.[1]
    • The class treasurer is responsible for managing the funds of student council. The treasurer keeps track of spending and is generally required to provide some sort of monthly report outlining financial decisions made by student council.[1]
    • In most schools, each class has a class representative for their year. Class reps usually represent the interests of their grade at student council meetings and events.[1]
  2. Decide on a platform. The keep to becoming a successful student council member is having a central belief system. If you want to run for student council, you have to have some kind of platform or ideology that drives your campaign.
    • A platform should be your summary of things at your school you want to change. Think about your experience as a student. What has been satisfactory? What has not? What would you like to change and what changes can you reasonably see made as a student council member?[2]
    • Talk to other students. Ask them about their concerns and opinions on the school and how it's being run. Ask them what they'd like to see change. Remember, however, that you need to be realistic. You can't promise, for example, two hours of lunchtime and no chemistry requirements. Try to fish out concerns that are legitimate. Are students concerned about bullying in your school? Do they want more diverse options for electives? Do they feel hot lunch options are not fair to students with certain food sensitivities? These are the kinds of concerns that you should take seriously.[2]
  3. Practice public speaking. You'll have to do some public speaking as a member of the student council. In most schools, you'll have to give a speech during the election season. Make sure you're comfortable with speaking in front of an audience.
    • Start small, especially if you're shy. Volunteer to speak during class. Talk to a stranger in the hallway.
    • Ask your family for help. Practice giving a monologue from a play or movie in front of your parents.
    • Try out for activities that require public speaking. Join the debate club. Try out for a play.[2]

Preparing to Run

  1. Network. Students who are well known in the school tend to be more likely to win at student council. While you shouldn't strive to make friends just to get votes, getting to know your classmates a bit can help..
    • Talk to people you don't normally talk to. People get stuck in ruts, especially in big schools, and tend to end up talking to a small circle of people. Branch out. Sit at a different table at lunch. Join an after school club with people who share your interests. Talk to a student you don't speak to much on the bus ride home.[2]
    • Be friendly to everyone. Being mean to be people or shunning people for being uncool won't win you any votes. Try to be nice to everyone you meet. This can lead to gaining the votes you need to win.[2]
  2. Get involved. You'll need credentials if you want to be on student council. Get involved in your school. The more you have on your resume, the more experienced and qualified for the position you'll look.
    • Join an after school club you're passionate about. If you love to write, join the newspaper. If you're interested in politics, try Model UN. Being involved can be impressive when you're running for office.[2]
    • Try to cater your involvement to the position you want. If you want to be president, look for leadership opportunities. If you want to be treasurer, a club related to math could help.
  3. Form a team. Once you start your campaign, form a campaign team. Get a group of students together to help you run. These can be friends but they can also people you know from clubs or organizations you're involved with. You can also ask around and see if anyone would be interested in helping based on your political platform.

Running a Campaign

  1. Advertise. As the campaign starts, you'll need to advertise you're running. Make posters and fliers to hang up around the school.
    • Try to make your posters aesthetically pleasing. People tend to respond to visuals, so a nice picture of yourself will help. Make sure your name is in big lettering as name recognition can help.[3]
    • Ask teachers where it's okay to hang your posters. You don't want to risk having posters taken down by staff members because they were in an area where they're not allowed.
    • If social media is allowed at your school, consider making a Facebook page advertising your campaign.
  2. Write a great speech. You'll have to write a speech for your campaign. A good speech should have three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
    • The introduction should briefly state your name, what position you're running for, and hint at your platform. A good introduction should start with a hook that gets the audience invested. Consider starting with a quote from a public figure you admire. You can also start with a joke, something like, "I know what you're thinking - what's this guy doing running for student council?"[4]
    • The body of your speech, which should be about two paragraphs long, should outline your goals. Go back to the reasons you decided to run. What do you want to change about the school? Why do you feel these changes are needed? You should also touch on your experience. Why are you the best person to make these changes?[4]
    • The conclusion should briefly reiterate your points and then end by politely asking students for your votes. Try to come off as humble, as overly boastful politicians can be off-putting. Ask students to do you the honor of voting for you this election.[4]
  3. Be respectful, whether you win or lose. If you win or lose, be respectful. Congratulate the other candidate if you lost. If you won, thank the other candidates for being worthy opponents. If you do not win, do not get too down. You can also run again next year or next semester.

Tips

  • You can get ideas for your speech by reading famous speeches online.
  • Practice reading your speech again and again. This will help you to remember And will stop you from being uncomfortable when you read it out to your audience.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.greenville.k12.mi.us/HighSchool.cfm?subpage=168405
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 http://education.seattlepi.com/ways-elected-student-council-1359.html
  3. ↑ http://www.kidzworld.com/article/4878-get-involved-with-student-council
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.write-out-loud.com/student-council-speeches.html
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