COASTAL OBSERVER

Georgetown County schools may be closed this week for fall break, but not all of them have been empty.

Hundreds of students from the eastern half of the state gathered at Waccamaw High for the S.C. Association of Student Councils District II rally. 

The entire event was planned and organized by students, led by seniors Megan Madigan and Skylar Lombard.

“It’s even more than what we expected,” Madigan said. “This exceeded our expectations completely.”

“It’s a time when you can network with other schools,” Lombard said. “You can get new ideas for student council and build your leadership. You learn a lot about yourself and your council comes back even stronger.”

Along with serious discussions and exchanging of ideas, there was also dancing, singing and a lot of laughter. 

The theme of this year’s rally was “get groovy with leadership.”

“We’ve gone to a lot of conferences in the past and we got a lot of ideas from other student councils,” Madigan said. “We just thought it would be a great way for other students to see what we do, see what they do, network and collaboarate.”

Julie Humowitz, who has been the faculty advisor to the Waccamaw High Student Council since 1994, was proud of the students.

“Sometimes it shocks you how well they step up to the plate when you just let them. I think all too often as adults we try to hold on to something,” Humowitz said. “We have to let them and we have to trust them. That’s when their leadership skills come out. They realize they could do things they didn’t even know they could do.”

Humowitz hopes after the rally all the students will realize how “wonderful” their school is.

“I think all too often we see the problems in the schools and we should be seeing the things that we do that we really do well,” she said.

The Waccamaw High Student Council has been named the best in the state among schools its size for 18 straight years.

One of the biggest events of the year for a student council is the annual homecoming celebration, which for Waccamaw was the week of Sept. 23.

Planning the homecoming is a favorite task for Abby Williams, a junior and vice president of the student council.

“We’ve always had students that aren’t necessarily a part of student council but they want to be a part of homecoming,” Williams said. “It’s definitely a good time to be involved.”

“It definitely is a fun week,” said Lindsey Lattimer, a senior and student body president. “The fun definitely outweighs the stress of the week.”

Student council members gathered at the school on a Sunday to decorate. Each grade level was given a specific hallway and members of the Key Club decorated the atrium.

The decorating theme for the juniors was golf.

“We’ve being doing grass stuff and someone made a poster of the Masters tournament, but more Waccamaw oriented,” Williams said. “It’s been really fun.”

The theme for the sophomores was boxing. Decorations included a miniature boxing ring. For the freshmen, it was soccer.

The seniors filled their hallway with basketball balloons and pictures of administrators photoshopped onto basketball players.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Hurricane Helene closed schools on Sept. 27, which meant no pep rally, no parade and no football game. This year’s homecoming king and queen will be announced during halftime of Friday’s football game against Loris.

Many students join the council to hone and display their leaderships skills, or simply as a way to give back.

“I like being involved in the community and helping out with stuff,” said Wilson Rutherford, co-president of the sophomore class. “It’s one of my favorite things to do. It makes me feel good.”

“We have a lot more of a role than I thought we would,” said Jessie Hammel, co-president of the sophomore class. “We’re leaders and I really enjoy it. We have a part in a lot of stuff and our voices are heard.”

“The kids that do a lot, they want to continue to give back,” Humowitz said. “I used to have kids that this was it for them. Now I have kids that are in so many different spots.”

In order to be considered for student council, students fill out an application and go through an interview process. Then there is an election in March for the next school year’s council.

Students who were not at the school in March can be selected as at-large members and work toward full membership. Humowitz said the at-large process started during the pandemic when some students weren’t at the school to run for election.

This year’s student council is the largest at Waccamaw in recent memory.

Lattimer, the president, said she joined student council so she could have input on what goes on in the school.

“I think that’s a really important part of a school’s function,” she said. “I think students should be allowed to be involved in making certain decisions.”

Besides overseeing homecoming, student council members also volunteer at open houses and registration, take part on community service projects, provide snacks for athletic teams, raise money the school’s scholarship funds and collect donations for local nonprofits.

“We’ve trying to support the school through spirit and get our name in a positive way out into the community,” Humowitz said.