PASC News Quarterly - Feb. 2015

Pnq PASC News Quarterly

PA State Scholars

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Wounded Warriors

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Grant Opportunities

Volume 39 • Issue 2 • February 2015

Advisors Honored

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Time to CLIMB Speakers

Summer Workshops

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for 10 Running Office

Lynch Inaugurated

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Inside This Issue Advisors of the Year Recognized at State Conference......................... 2 Michaela Lynch Inaugurated ........ 3 Grant Opportunities...................... 4 Regional/District Reps Elected to PASC Board...................................... 4 U.S. Senate Youth Scholarship Finalists Named........................................ 5 Wounded Warrior Selected as State Chariity................................... 5 PASC Gold Changes Lives............ 6 2015 Summer Leadership Workshop Dates........................................ 7 Staff Applications Now Available for Workshops....................................... 7

Advisors of the Year Recognized David Aboud Named High School Advisor of the Year High school advisors selected by their districts as Advisors of the Year were recognized at the State Conference at Altoona Area High School. This year David Aboud from Altoona Area High School, received the Linda Greb High School Advisor of the Year Award.

For Aboud the award was particularly meaningful as it was his last PASC Conference and his school was the host school. Having his co-workers and students present made the experience all the more memorable. “Receiving here at the home school, with the students who had organized the conference and the other advisers—[Kim] Shope, [Holly] Metzler, [Mike] Baker and [Beth] Bronson—[was the most memorable thing about the experience],” Aboud said in an interview with his school’s paper. “They were all such an integral part of making this happen, and it was neat to have it happen here.”

Aboud has been a student council adviser for 37 years and he advised four student councils that have hosted the PASC Conference, in 1986, 1992, 2011, and 2014. He also received the Advisor of the Year Award in 1993.

The PASC High School Advisor of the Year Award is named for the former Mars High School advisor and PASC Executive Board member who passed away in 2002 after a courageous battle with cancer.

National Council of Excellence Applications Due.................................. 7 Horatio Alger Names 54 Pennsylvania State Scholars............................ 8 Dale Hawley Award Winners Named............................................... 8 2015 PASC District/Regional Conferences............................................. 8 Deer Lakes High School to Host 80th PASC Conference.................. 9 Lisa Bernet Named as PASC News Director............................................ 9 Woody Woodbury Selected 2014 Linda Greb Award Winner............ 9 Running for Office.......................... 10 Exciting Set of Speakers Slated for 79th PASC Conference.................. 11 Time to CLIMB................................ 12

David Aboud (left) and Jackie Jaros (right) are congratulated on their advisor of the year awards by PASC Executive Director Rose Ann Fulena at the state conference.

Jackie Jaros Named Middle Level Advisor of the Year Middle level advisors selected by their districts as Advisors of the Year also were recognized at the state conference in November. From this group, Jackie Jaros, from Deer Lakes Middle School was chosen as the 2014 PASC Middle Level Advisor of the Year.

Jaros has served in the PASC for the past 14 years and currently holds a seat on the state board of directors. Under her direction, Deer Lakes has hosted two middle level regional conferences.

Rose Ann M. Fulena, PASC Executive Director, noted Jaros’ passion, dedication, loyalty, determination and empathy when recommending her for the organization’s top honor.

“Jackie Jaros is an advisor who puts countless hours, and her entire heart, into student leadership development,” said Fulena. “Whether she is providing training opportunities to her own students, the students of Allegheny County, or across Pennsylvania, she moves heaven and earth to help them learn and grow through creative programs, introspection, and meaningful service projects and I cannot imagine a more deserving recipient of this award.”

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PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

Michaela Lynch Inaugurated As PASC State President At her inauguration as PASC President, Michaela Lynch delivered the following address: “I would just like to begin by saying how excited I am to be here with you all at my first meeting as the Pennsylvania Association of Student Council’s 2015 State President. Looking back to a year ago, giving our state conference bid, I never would have believed I would be able to stand before you with the opportunity to make a positive impact on such a great organization. And now that the time has come I would like to do just that.

“Seeing that Pennsylvania has so many incredible student leaders, I would like to give the opportunity for some of these student leaders to get the recognition or “pat on the back” that they very well deserve.

My goal is to move forward with the idea of a student spotlight program to feature some of our state’s most hard working, committed, and kind leaders. During the Constitution and Policy meeting in August, we discussed some ideas that we had moving forward with the initiative.

“Students, teachers, and advisors will have the ability to nominate a student based on

PASC Executive Director Rose Ann Fulena (right) congratulates Micchaela Lynch from Halifax High School on her inauguration as PASC President.

things like doing a lot of community service, putting a new initiative in place at their school, etc. Each spotlight would be done once a month in PASC News, on pasc.net, and on all of our social media sites. We had discussed creating a Google Docs Form to collect the data for the nominees. To continue to move forward with the idea, I would like to take suggestions on how to select the student that we will be put in the spotlight for that month.

I have thought of picking at random, reading through applications and making an informal decision, or creating a rubric to evaluate the specific criteria that we would like to see.

PASC is an organization based around student leaders. Without these student leaders we wouldn’t be such a thriving organization, so I think it is only fair that we recognize the students for the support and for the work that they put in.

“By the end of this weekend I hope to have a thoroughly laid out plan of how I would like to continue to with this program. My goal is to be able to come to our March board meeting ready to begin implementing the student spotlight program. I also would like to further promote the program and recognize some of these students at state conference for their wonderful achievements.

After all,

“With all of that being said, I am so excited to begin what I have heard will be the experience of a lifetime. Although it may present its challenges, I am more than ready and capable of successfully leading this organization. I am honored to be able to lead the organization that has and will continue to change my life. I look forward to enabling another successful year and all of the wonderful experiences that are in store. Thank you.”

“The reason I wanted to put this student spotlight program into effect is because it goes so well with our state conference theme “It’s Time to CLIMB.” As an organization promoting student leadership and the idea of caring, leading, improving, motivating, and building, I think that we should celebrate those who are to live their lives based on such principles that we encourage at every turn.

PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

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Grant Opportunities Hasbro Community Action Hero 2015

The Hasbro Community Action Hero Award recognizes outstanding young volunteers who show that you are never too young to make a difference in your local or global community.

The following Regional Representatives were selected at the state conference and began their two-year term on the PASC Executive Board in January:

left their positions last month. Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication to the PASC Board. Best of luck to all of you!!

Region A:

Tyler Cornell, General McLane HS

Region B:

Trey Quely, Norwin HS

Region A: Noah Polio, Union Area HS Region B: Madison Darrah, North Allegheny HS

Hasbro Children’s Fund and generationOn will celebrate 10 young people between the ages of 5–18 for their extraordinary community service and volunteer activities at a special recognition event Los Angeles on April 18, 2015. Each winner will be awarded a $1,000 educational scholarship and a $500 grant to their selected non-profit.

Region D:

Region D:

Delaney Heller, Mountain View HS

Sierra Gehringer, Cowanesque Valley HS

Region E:

Region E:

Drew Phillippi, Bermudian Springs HS

Autumn Capouillez, Halifax HS

New adult members also joined the Board:

Region C:

Megan Paonessa, Conemaugh Valley HS

A Hasbro Community Action Hero is a young person who makes an extraordinary mark on the world through service. Visit generationon. org/teens for more information.

Region F:

Martin Richard Bridge Builder Grants Calling all Peace Makers! Apply for a $500 grant to support kids and teens in changing their communities through kindness!

GenerationOn and Hasbro, in partnership with the Martin Richard Foundation, are offering thirty $500 mini-grants to encourage young people around the U.S. to take action that advances peace and kindness in their communities.

Participation is free and easy: • Visit generation.org/educators to mobilize kids and teens in service (teens 13–18 can apply themselves), • There are also tools and resources on the website to help you plan your project, • Visit the website to learn more about the program and the young boy who inspired it, Martin Richard.

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2015–2016 Regional/District Reps Elected for PASC Board Positions

The following Regional Representatives began the second year of their terms last month.

Region G:

District 2 Director

John Motyl

District 3 Director

Felix Yerace

District 4 Director

Ryann Lynn

District 7 Director

Jodi Niver Wieder

Taylor Schwartz, Marple Newton HS

District 10 Director

Carolyn Radon

Luke Myers, Governor Mifflin HS

Alumni Coordinator Jenn O’Mara

District 11 Director Justin Shivone PASC News Director Lisa Bernet

The following Regional Representatives

PASC News Quarterly is published quarterly during the school year. To submit announcements, articles, or corrections for newsletters, please email the PASC News Director, Executive Director, or Assistant Executive Director. Articles or information from PASC News Quarterly may be reproduced for use, with appropriate credit.

Executive Director Rose Ann Fulena Union Area Middle School 2106 Camden Avenue New Castle, PA 16101 PH: 724-971-4599 FX: 724-658-8617 pasc.exdir@gmail.com Assistant Executive Director Kathy Ann Coll 174 Link Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15237 412-366-5744 Kcoll1@comcast.net PASC President Michaela Lynch Halifax High School 3940 Peters Mountain Rd. Halifax, PA 17032

PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

PASC President-Elect Tyler Raub Deer Lakes High School Cheswick, PA PASC News Director Lisa Bernet Fleetwood Area Middle School 610-944-7634 x3228 lbernet@fleetwoodasd.k12.pa.us PASC News Editor/Designer Lyn Fiscus Leadership Logistics PASC Email: pasc.exdir@gmail.com PASC Website: www.pasc.net

U.S. Senate Youth Scholarship Finalists Named

Finalists for the U.S. Senate Youth Scholarship were named after a day of interviews and exams in Harrisburg.

Eleven Pennsylvania students were recently named as United States Senate Youth Scholarship finalists. On Saturday, November 22, 2014, each of these students was interviewed and took a government and constitution-based current events exam. The Department of Education hosted these students and their parents for a luncheon at the State Capitol as part of this special day in Harrisburg. Two state winners and two alternates were selected.

Congratulations to the following finalists: Abigail Bentz, Susquehannock HS, District 8 Nathan Bonham, Cowanesque Valley HS, District 7 Jeffrey Ebner, Interboro HS, District 11 Alexandra Kohr, Williams Valley HS, District 13 Jennifer Merritt, Upper Merion HS, District 12

Alexander Pereira, Holy Ghost Prep, District 12 Annabelle Pham, Quakertown Community HS, District 12 Rachana Prakash, Wilson HS, District 13 Trey Quealy, Norwin HS, District 4 Daniel Rewes, Hershey HS, District 8 Catherine Zhang, North Allegheny HS, District 3 Congratulations also go to Nathan Bonham and Catherine Zhang who were selected as the state winners and to Jennifer Merritt and Daniel Rewes who were selected as the alternates.

All school nominees for the U.S. Senate Youth Scholarship are invited to attend the PASC Student Summit in Harrisburg on February 23, 2014 along with other representatives from high schools across the state.

Wounded Warrior Selected As State Charity The Halifax Area High School Student Council has selected the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) as their State Charity for the 79th PASC Student Council State Conference to be held November 12–14, 2015.

The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization that supports the personnel who help, comfort, and assist wounded service members and their families after their injuries. The WWP began when several people, including many veterans and friends, came together to help returning service members from Afghanistan and Iraq who were in need. Wounded Warrior Project’s goal is to transition the soldiers and families back into their normal life routines after traumatic events such as illnesses, wounds, and physical and mental injuries. The WWP has become a

graduates that enter the military. Additionally, there is an excellent chance that most of you personally know soldiers in your community; a few may even have been injured. This helping hand is necessary and has a great impact, and might very well be so on the local level. YOU can make a difference.

nationwide program that helps thousands of service members every year.

But ultimately, why should YOU help or donate? Try this. Look around your school. Count how many students have already signed up for the armed forces, then take another count of how many are likely to do so. Practically every school has

We encourage your council to participate in fundraisers to help raise money for this wonderful organization. Donations to this great charity can be sent to Halifax HS Student Council, 3940 Peters Mountain Road, Halifax, PA 17032, or drop off checks at the state conference registration in November. Donation checks should be payable to PASC 2015 State Conference— please attach note “for state charity.”

PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

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PASC Gold Changes Lives

By Luke Myers “All my life’s a circle; Sunrise and sundown; Moon rolls thru the nighttime; Till the daybreak comes around.

All my life’s a circle; But I can’t tell you why; Season’s spinning round again; The years keep rollin’ by.”

—Harry Chapin We stood, singing, our formation circular, mirroring the theme of the song. Holding hands, we followed the lead of Woody Woodbury, workshop counselor, communication presenter, and official Susquehanna Gold guitarist. As we sung, tears streamed down our faces, their flow caused by the knowledge that we would be leaving each other in just a few minutes, as the workshop came to a close. Though outwardly appearing upset, each delegate internally felt a degree of pride and comfort that is rarely experienced by a person in his/her lifetime. As the lyrics of the showtune “For Good” (which was performed the previous night) declaim, “we had been changed for the better.”

On Sunday, July 27th, 101 delegates entered the Susquehanna University campus for the PASC Gold workshop. Some were excited and upbeat, others were unsure of what to expect. The predominant feeling around the camp that initial afternoon was tentativeness, maybe even skepticism. It didn’t take long for that feeling to disappear entirely from the delegates.

Upon arriving at the workshop, we were sorted into color groups.

Each color group comprised about 20 delegates, along with two color group advisors. Through days of spending time together,

participating in team-building activities, competition, and discussion, each color group became a family. I was a member of the green group, and the sense of pride I developed in our group was remarkable. Seeing the group unite seamlessly and participate collaboratively at the Color Olympics was one of the proudest moments of my life, and that feeling wasn’t exclusive to just me or the green group—every delegate shared that fulfillment.

Each morning we attended Power Seminars on a variety of topics, including communication, motivation, and leadership. Each was exquisitely presented, and the sessions provided innumerable concepts and ideas for us that will prove valuable moving forward in our lives and councils.

When we weren’t in Power Seminars or convening with our color groups, we were experiencing presentations tailored to more specific aspects of a student council. Students could choose which of these presentations—which ranged from parliamentary procedure to school spirit—to attend based on their interests or roles in their council.

Every night, we participated in activities that included all delegates and counselors. These activities allowed delegates to express themselves in any way they liked, and many profound moments resulted from these events.

Though sleep was a rarity due to the intentionally packed schedule, the excited and upbeat atmosphere negated everyone’s weariness. The truly unique aspect of a PASC Summer Workshop is the people met and the lifelong friends made by attending.

I attended a workshop full of amazing people, and they, in turn, made me feel amazing as well.

Andy Costanzo, the workshop director, explained to us that people could only fully understand our experience by experiencing it themselves. A person reading or hearing about our time at the workshop comprehends that we learned about leadership and that we enjoyed the week, but they fail to grasp how we learned the lessons and the emotions that we felt. Every sentence I write feels like an understatement; words simply cannot do the week justice.

On Friday, August 1, 101 delegates departed from Susquehanna University with tears in their eyes, upset that their life-changing week had concluded. Many preconceptions about the workshop were shattered over the course of the week. Everybody departed rejuvenated, focused, and motivated for the upcoming school year, and everybody’s expectations for the week were exceeded.

Though leaving my new, yet remarkably dear friends was painstakingly difficult, I realize that there is truth to the lyrics that we sang on that final day. All our lives are circles. We will encounter each other again over the course of our lives. This theme not only applies to people, but also to skills and concepts we gained. They will prove recurrently necessary as we live our lives. Oh, the Places We’ll Go with all that we’ve gained from PASC Gold summer workshops.

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PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

Mark Your Calendar with These PASC Summer Leadership Workshop Dates Share these dates with underclass members of your student council, class governments, NHS, and other student organizations so that they may plan now for a week of learning, fun, and personal growth this summer.

Blue workshops are for middle level students in grades 7–9 in September 2015, while Gold workshops are for high school students going into grades 9–12 for the 2015–2016 school year. Costs listed below include registration, program materials, room, meals, and a t-shirt.

Please note the following dates and locations and begin planning now for students to attend in July.

Costs & Deadlines:

Blue (Grades 7–9) Grove City College, July 12–16

Early Bird (May 14)

Regular ( June 11)

$355

$380

Alvernia University, July 26–30 Gold (Grades 9–12) Grove City College, July 19–24 Susquehanna University, July 26–31 Advanced Gold (Grades 11–12) University of Pittsburgh/Johnstown, July 12–18

$355

$380

$390 $390

$415 $415

$525

$550

Note: Students not from a PASC member school will be charged an additional surcharge of $50 per delegate.

National Council of Excellence Applications Due February 17 Middle level and high school student councils that consistently provide quality leadership activities and service to their schools and communities can earn national recognition through NASC’s National Councils of Excellence program.

This award is given to schools that demonstrate the highest levels of leadership and embrace exceptional activities by meeting all “Required Standards” and a minimum number of “Additional Standards.” The award features two levels of recognition including the National Council of Excellence and the National Gold Council of Excellence.

In 2014, only 11 PASC schools earned this prestigious national award, including 10 schools who were recognized as Gold Level Councils of Excellence. PASC would like to encourage all councils in Pennsylvania to apply for this honor.

Details on the application process and the appropriate forms can be found at http://www.nasc.us/nationalcouncils-of-excellence/application-related-materials.aspx.

Staff Applications Now Available for Workshops PASC is seeking students who will graduate from high school in 2015 (or have graduated in 2013 or 2014) to serve as group leaders/advisors at one of the five PASC Summer Leadership Workshops.

Additionally, student council advisors, other teachers, or individuals with experience in leadership development are encouraged to apply for teaching positions at the PASC Blue Workshops (grades 7–9) or the PASC Gold Workshops (grades 9–12) for the summer of 2015. Applications are now available at www.pasc.net or by contacting the PASC Registrar at PASCWorkshops@aol.com.

Selection of staff members will be made by the Workshop Directors beginning the first week in March. Completed applications must be postmarked by February 28, 2015.

With only a few days until the deadline to submit Councils of Excellence applications, it is time for your student council members to finalize project reports, minutes and agendas of meetings, and other information to support your council’s application for 2015. The application, based on the council’s accomplishments for calendar year 2014, is due to NASC on February 17, 2015.

PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

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Horatio Alger Names 54 Pennsylvania State Scholars The Horatio Alger Association for Distinguished Americans named 54 Pennsylvania seniors as Pennsylvania State Scholars in addition to three National Scholars named in January. The National Scholars are: • Daniel Christenson, Pocono Mountain High School • Emily McMichael, Shippensburg Area High School • Maverick Robinson, Newport High School.

These students will be recognized at the Association’s National Scholars Conference in Washington, D.C in April and will each receive a $22,000 scholarship.

The names and schools of the 54 Pennsylvania State Scholars can be found at www.horatioalger.com. Enter the site, click on scholarships, and then click on “State Scholars of Pennsylvania.” Each state scholar will receive a $7,000 scholarship though funds provided by the Neubauer Family Foundation and Horatio Alger Association member Alan B. Miller.

The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans will be accepting applications from students in the graduating class of 2016 beginning on August 1, 2015 with a deadline of October 25, 2015 for completion of the online application.

Please share the following information with your Guidance Department and with present juniors whom you know might fit the following criteria: The Horatio Alger Association seeks to assist students who have demonstrated integrity, perseverance in overcoming adversity, strength of character, financial need (under $50,000 adjusted gross family income), a good academic record, commitment to pursue a college education, and a desire to contribute to society.

Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., fulfills its mission of honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals who have succeeded in spite of adversity 8

and of encouraging young people to pursue their dreams through higher education.

Horatio Alger Association supports students through annual undergraduate and graduate need-based scholarships and mentoring programs across the United

States and Canada. Since 1984, the Association has awarded more than $100 million in college scholarships to deserving young people. For more information, visit www.horatioalger.org.

Dale Hawley Award Winners Named Each year, the National Association of Student Councils provides each state association with five awards named for the former Executive Director of NASC, Dale Hawley.

Pennsylvania has annually given these awards to one student at each of our Gold and Blue Summer Leadership Workshops. The students are selected by the respective workshop staffs as outstanding delegates during the workshop programs in July.

The Dale Hawley Awards were announced at the State Conference on November 15.

The winners are: Grove City Blue:

Shirlann Harmon, Seneca Valley Intermediate HS

Alvernia:

Evan Carey, Pennridge North MS

Grove City Gold:

Mingxin Guo, Villa Maria Academy

Susquehanna:

Rocio Saavedra, Pocono Mountain West HS

Advanced Gold:

Maddy Dietz, Anville-Cleona HS

2015 PASC District/Regional Conferences Mark your calendar and plan to attend the district/regional conference in your area.

District/Region Date Location Region A Districts 1 & 2 March 6 Mars HS District 2 Middle Level March 8 Union Area MS/HS District 3 March 23 South Fayette HS District 4 March 13 Norwin HS District 6 April 30 Everett Area MS District 7 TBA District 8 March 27 Cedar Crest HS District 9 March 26 Mountain View JSHS

Region F Districts 11 & 12 February 13 Pennridge HS

Region G Districts 10 & 13 February 5 Kutztown HS

PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

Deer Lakes High School to Host 80th PASC State Conference The 2016 state conference will be the 80th PASC conference and host school Deer Lakes HS has selected “Decades of Leadership” as its theme to explore and enrich leadership skills as we travel through the many decades. Deer Lakes HS is located in Cheswick, approximately 16 miles from Pittsburgh. The conference will be held Thursday, November 10 through Saturday, November 12, 2016. The registration fee has not yet been officially set, but is anticipated to be $125 per delegate.

The PASC State Conference will once again be a hotel-based conference.

Registration and welcome activities will be held Thursday afternoon in the Deer Lakes HS gymnasium. A free dinner for advisors and students will be at the high school, followed by an evening opening General Session in the Deer Lakes HS auditorium with speaker Ian Rosenberger, a former Survivor contestant and founder of Team Tassy. The first general session will be followed by a laser light show.

On Friday, students and advisors will have breakfast at their hotels. The morning program for students will include icebreakers, Veterans Day Activities, and region

Lisa Bernet Named As PASC News Director I would like to introduce myself as your new PASC News Director. I am a 7th grade math teacher and student council advisor at Fleetwood Area Middle School. I am very excited about being a part of bringing PASC News to you! A shorter version of PASC News with links to information on the PASC website will be published during January, March, April, September, October, and December. However, during February, May, August, and November you will see a magazine style of PASC News—PASC News Quarterly, or PNQ—that will feature more articles including some feature articles. If you ever have any suggestions or if you would like to have an article featured in PASC news, please contact me at pasccommunications@gmail.com.

Deer Lakes Student Council members are looking forward to welcoming PASC to the 2016 conference at their school.

caucus meetings followed by student-led workshops. Lunch will be interspersed with regional caucus meetings and workshops. These activities will be followed by a second general session featuring speaker Eddie Slowikowski. Following the second general session advisors and students will return to their hotels to prepare for the banquet, which will be held at Shriners

Hall in Harmarville.

The conference will end on Saturday morning with a third general session, featuring Cara Filler as the keynote speaker.

The conference will end by 11:15 AM. Circle your calendars now and join us at Deer Lakes HS, November 10–12, 2016 for the 80th PASC state conference!

Woody Woodbury Selected As 2014 Linda Greb Award Winner Woody Woodbury was named the winner of the 2014 Linda Greb Award at the closing session of the state conference.

Our 2014 recipient of the award, now in its 10th year, has been a staff member for 23 years at Susquehanna University. He not only teaches the Communication Skills Power Seminar, but he has been instrumental in making sure the material and activities are current, including periodically meeting with other folks who teach this topic. His playing guitar and banjo, singing, and teaching the delegates songs each year have become an integral part of the program.

Woody received a specially designed gold pin which included an inverted triangle representing Linda’s strength, the seeds she planted in young people, their growth into fully developed trees all encircled to symbolize the circle of life.

The award is named in memory of Linda S. Greb, who served on many workshop staffs.

She passed away in 2002 while serving as the director of the Advanced Gold Workshop.

This award is given annually to a workshop staff member for outstanding service to PASC. Congratulations, Woody!

PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

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Running for Student Council Office

By Lyn Fiscus Spring is election season in many schools, a time when student leaders everywhere consider what role they want to undertake in their organization for next year. The decision of whether or not to run for office has many facets. Give the following items some good thought before you submit yourself as a candidate.

RESPONSIBILITY LEVEL The first thing to consider is how much time and effort you are willing to put into an officer position. Students often run for office because it will look good on a college application, and they don’t put a lot of thought into the obligations of the role. Find out what the position entails before you throw your hat in the ring.

Different officer positions have different workloads, so select one that will mesh well with the level of responsibility you are willing to take on.

TALENTS & SKILLS Do some candid thinking about your talents and skills before deciding what office to run for. If you are not a detail person or your math skills aren’t the best, the role of treasurer isn’t for you.

Note-taking and organization skills are essential for the role of secretary. Public speaking and motivational skills are important for a president. In addition to leadership skills, the vice president needs to be supportive and flexible. What role suits you best?

THE COMPETITION Another thing to consider is who else might be running for office.

You might not want to run against a highly popular student leader who has held the office before and done a good job with it. Ask around to see if anyone knows who is running for each office and weigh that against which office you plan to seek.

Factor in not only who you would be running against for the office you want, but also how many people are running. Students are sometimes scared off when several people are running for one office, but consider this: unless your organization’s constitution specifies that a majority vote is needed to win an election, if several people are running for office you need a smaller percentage of the vote to win (a plurality) than if you are just running against one other person (a majority). You might think there’s less competition to run against just one person, but you would need to convince 51% of the voters to vote for you. If five people are running the votes are spread around and you only need to get more votes than any of the other candidates.

ELECTION CHANCES Gauging your chances of getting elected involves more than just assessing your competition. How much support will you be able to draw on? Take a look at what groups you belong to at school and how likely people from those groups will be to support you. If 10

PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

you’re part of the school band, for example, and you have a good reputation in that group, can you call on other band members to vote for a fellow band member?

YOUR VISION Figure out why you are running for office and what you want to accomplish if elected. What do you want your legacy to be at the end of your term? Figuring out what you hope to accomplish should also be balanced with issues students care about. Listen in the cafeteria to hear what people are griping about, or ask around to see what changes students want to see in the school. If you can tap into a need students have, and convince them that you can help provide the solution, they will be more likely to vote for you.

YOUR CAMPAIGN You might be a well-qualified candidate with great ideas, but if no one knows you it will be hard to be elected. How will you publicize your qualifications and vision for the position to garner support from your peers? Brainstorm with friends to come up with a catchy slogan or theme for your campaign materials. Ideas include: • Adapt a familiar ad slogan. A search of popular advertising slogans will turn up a plethora of ones to adapt, like: “Think outside the bun! Vote Connor for healthy food options!” or “Abby for Secretary: Because you’re worth it!”

• Make a play on words: “Stephen for Treasurer, it just makes cents!” or “Kristin, the write choice for secretary.”

• Play off your name: “Yu want change? Yu want fun? Vote Olivia Yu for President” or “Clinton will make school a TON of fun” Use bright colors and eye-catching graphics for your posters, and think of creative ways to reach people with buttons, bookmarks, pencils, and so forth. Check campaign guidelines to ensure you are following the rules—you won’t want to be disqualified by breaking a campaign rule you didn’t know about.

Thinking through all aspects of running for office will help you make a good decision about whether or not to run, and will enable you to launch a campaign that has more of a chance of succeeding. And if your efforts don’t meet with the success you hoped for, remember this: you don’t have to have a title to be a student leader!

Exciting Set of Speakers Slated for 79th PASC State Conference The 79th Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils will be held November 12–14, 2015, hosted by Halifax HS. The host school is very excited about their speaker line-up for the conference.

Eric Alexander, skier, climber, and mountaineer is achieving his goals while playing an instrumental role in helping others to achieve their own. On May 25, 2001 Eric defied the odds and scaled Mt. Everest, guiding his blind friend Erik Weihenmayer to its lofty 29,035-foot summit. In 2002 the pair traveled to Russia and climbed Mt. Elbrus at 18,500 feet, and again found success on Mt. Kosciusko, Australia––two more of the seven summits (the highest points on each of the seven continents). Notably the pair skied from the top of each of these latter two, making this the first-ever blind ski descents. Eric shares this inspirational story with audiences all over the country and when he is not traveling he teaches disabled skiers in Vail, Colorado, and directs Adventures Beyond Limits, an organization that educates and encourages youth with disabilities in the outdoors.

Climbing has not always been without its trials. Eric reminds us of our humanity and demonstrates the courage it takes to succeed in climbing to the “top of the world.” Surviving a 150-foot fall in the Himalayas on Mt. Amadablam in 2000 was just the beginning. Gaining inspiration from his team and his faith, Eric dared to dream once again and fought back to play an instrumental role in this historic ascent. Today, Eric continues to climb and look for new challenges both personally and in the outdoors while challenging people to overcome the “Everests” in their own lives to redefine the limits of what we can achieve.

John Beede is a worldwide adventure icon and keynote speaker and is the author of multiple highly acclaimed books including Summit Leadership: 7 Steps to Leading From the Top, The MiniManual for Becoming SuperAwesome, and Climb On! Success Strategies for Teens.

Along with reaching his lifelong dream of climbing to the summit of Mount Everest, John has been featured in dozens of prestigious media outlets such as 60 Minutes and The Weather Channel. He’s presented to more than 580,000 live audience members in 46 US States and 6 countries, including TEDxCapeTown, which was attended by South Africa’s

most influential thinkers and leaders.

Having built, sold, and consulted for companies valued in the 10s of millions of dollars, he has self-funded his travels to 51 countries on all continents except for Antarctica. A life-enthusiast who lives his message of goal-setting, productivity, and high performance, John is in the constant process of architecting his life into a great adventure. John has an entertaining style that shows his proven formula to “Climb On” to your top personal, leadership, and achievement potential.

Amanda Hammett was a success by her mid 20s, having accomplished her two biggest goals in life, which were to make lots of money and be the boss. She started her multi-million dollar company fresh out of college at the age of 23.

Amanda had accomplished everything that everyone around her told her was success, but all the money and success didn’t make her happy.

For years, Amanda struggled with the idea of success and wanting even more in the hopes that more success = happiness. It wasn’t until a sensationalized world-wide scandal took down her sports tour business and brought the world’s news media and the US Secret Service to her door that she was able to truly define success on her own terms and in her own way. Of course (as someone who had never even had a speeding ticket) facing possible jail time does have a tendency to put things into perspective pretty quickly!

Amanda tells her story across the country to help students understand that success is defined by one person…YOU! More information about the upcoming conference will be forthcoming in future PASC News.

Also, be sure to check out the website at www.PASC2015.org.

Looking forward to seeing you at “Time to CLIMB” in November.

PASC News Quarterly • February 2015 • www.pasc.net

11

79th PASC State Conference

November 12-14, 2015 Halifax High School To be held in Harrisburg, PA, at the Hilton Hotel and Crowne Plaza

It’s Time to C.L.I.M.B. Care Lead Improve Motivate Build Time:

CLIMB:

Time is limited… 3 days of the conference, 4 years of high school, etc. Time cannot be wasted. We have so much to do and so little time to do it. Don’t waste a minute!

Look at the words above. All of them are verbs! We need to DO them; put them in action. In fact, before we can these for others, they first must be applied to our own lives.

Check out

pasc2015.org for more info

STATE CHARITY: We have chosen the Wounded Warrior Project as our state charity. The WWP focuses on those soldiers wounded in the service to our country. Not only does the Wounded Warrior Project directly help with the physical disabilities, they go beyond as they strive to bring back the spirit to those who may be broken inside.

Those men and women who have been injured will benefit from the fundraising power of student councils across the state.

Practically every school has students who enter military service following high school graduation. So, this touches schools all across the state. This is our way to say to them, “We’ve got your back.

We will be here for you always.”