Kearsten Ball

Writer

Traveling to Ada, Oklahoma, Marlow High School Student Council attended the annual Oklahoma Association of Student Council (OASC) state convention that began on Saturday, Nov. 2 and ran through Monday, Nov. 4.

This year’s theme was R.I.S.E, or Real Inclusiveness Serves Everyone, which focused on the act of bringing everyone together to work as a team.

As described by student council adviser Ann Field, the convention is a time when student councils from around the state gather together for a time of networking, leadership training, character development and fun.

In charge of facilitating a leadership workshop for other student council members across the state to learn from, seniors Malachi Eveland and Skylar Schnedorf shared a lesson about servant leadership in honor of a young cancer patient Alexandra Scott.

“Malachi and I discussed the true story of ‘Alex’s Lemonade Stand,’” Schnedorf said. “Alex was this young girl who, despite having cancer herself, created a lemonade stand that raised $1 million to help other cancer patients. This led us to talk about strong values within people, such as taking initiative and having empathy.”

Not only does the state convention encourage personal and council growth opportunities but also gives selected school’s the chance to have a student council member run for a state office.

This year, Marlow elected to have student council Media Coordinator junior Elena Holguin to run for OASC state president.

Running for office, Holguin created a platform, or campaign, to share with others her goal for this school year; the platform was posted on the OASC website for all voters to see.

“A platform is what someone wants to do for the OASC that can help better the program,” Holguin said. “My platform is to create an OASC alumni association to benefit not only alumni but also current students. Benefits of this would be for alumni to reconnect and network with current members while students could use alumni for sponsorships and networking as well. Both sides would be benefiting each other at no loss.”

Throughout the weekend, Marlow students represented themselves and their school in an outstanding manner and showcased Holguin’s platform to further educate others on what Holguin’s plans were if she were to become president.

After seeing the big ideas the small town of Marlow had to offer, student council members around the state of Oklahoma voted on who they believed could fulfill the major responsibilities and strong leadership role of being the OASC president.

Seeming to fit naturally into the position, on Monday, Holguin was announced as the president of the Oklahoma Association of Student Councils – the second in Marlow High School’s history.

With pride and honor, Holguin described the significance of Marlow running and winning a state office.

“You have as many opportunities as you will make for yourself,” said Holguin. “Although Marlow is a small school, we have so much passion for what we do, and it makes us mighty.”

Making history at this year’s OASC state convention, Holguin will serve as Oklahoma’s OASC president for the 2019-20 school year.