By MARIA LEWIS, Indus School Junior
The Minnesota Association of Student Councils and Honor Societies Conference took place April 21-23 in Rochester, Minn., at Century High School. It involved all the divisions of school Student Councils in Minnesota. Three students, in grades 9-11, from each school could attend the conference. A coach bus transported students from International Falls all the way to Rochester, picking up various schools in the Northeast Division along the way.
The theme for this year’s convention was “Teens Kickin’ It: Childhood Diseases.” The theme went along with the service projects that each school was supposed to participate in. The money raised by each school was collected at state and given to various charities supporting diseases such as cancer and cerebral palsy. About $165,000 were brought in from all the schools in Minnesota that participated.
Indus Juniors Ricky Lehman, Maria Lewis and Sophomore Sofia Olesen attended the conference. They each stayed with a different host family in the Rochester area as well as with other students from the conference.
Each day consisted of sessions in which a guest speaker came in to talk with the students. At various times of the day, other sessions were held among students to discuss ideas about improving leadership and school spirit. Students also shared ideas for fundraising and community service.
Jason Hewlett was the guest speaker on Saturday. Born with a large mouth and made fun of in school, he shared how he overcame his weaknesses and turned them into strengths. Hewlett described how each student needs to create an “authentic” personality. “If [someone] is really passionate about [something] they need to go after it.” Hewlett emphasized the need for students to forget normal and to “do your own show,” and “honor your values.” Hewlett learned to embrace his oddities and change the world through them.
There were two speakers on Sunday. The first speaker, Justin Patchin, was from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He gave a presentation on the dangers of posting information on the internet and the consequences of cyber bullying. Through an in-depth PowerPoint presentation, Patchin displayed how easy it is to find information of a person on the internet.
He presented information on a girl in which he attained everything from her name to her father’s resume from the information she had posted on social networking sites.
The second speaker was Shanna Decker who presented her program “Because Love Wins.” As a survivor of cancer from age 7, Decker devotes her life to helping others in the hospital that face the same situation she did. The message she gave was one of service and love. The message left with the kids was, “Love one another. Forgive each other. Keep smiling.”
A banquet was held Sunday evening where awards were presented to student leaders. Afterwards, a dance entertained the kids. In the morning, the students were treated to “Chris Cakes: Flying Pancakes” where they had to “catch” pancakes on their plate as the cooks flipped the pancakes into the air. Many laughs were had as well as many mishaps, such as pancakes getting caught in the ceiling.
The conference wrapped up on Monday. Kids said goodbye to their host families and attended a final session. It was here that they saw a presentation of all of the photos of the week and wrapped up the conference. Junior Ricky Lehman said he “enjoyed [the conference] and learned a lot of ideas that could [benefit] our school.” It was an eye-opening experience for everyone and it allowed the students to take initiative and to begin to change the world.
