Oak View students learn about politics

Media Specialist Patricia D’Avanzo, at left, with Principal Linda Lo, guided the student council at Oakview Elementary School. Candidates were required to make their own posters; one is pictured below.

The student council at Oak View Elementary School held its elections this week.

They were noteworthy because they served as a marker, providing the opportunity to look back on the previous student administration which was the first one ever at the school.

Principal Linda Lo, in her second year now, instituted the governing body when she was hired, giving the students their distinct voice.

According to Lo and Patricia D’Avanzo, the media specialist and council advisor, a significant benefit of the student government was the necessity for students council members and the classroom representatives to grow their leadership skills. Much of what they wanted to achieve was addressed in school assemblies. One was for a student code of conduct.

“They elevated the code of conduct by creating videos and leading the assembly,” Lo said. “That was big. When you have peers presenting a code of conduct, that’s powerful.”

There was an assembly for the Martin Luther King Week of Respect. The week was called, “We can change the world one step at a time.”

“Day No. 1 was a schoolwide project,” D’Avanzo said. “It was a student pledge to be of service to others. Day No. 2 was Book Buddies. For Day No. 3, it was the animal shelter collection with the K Kids, the Kiwanis Club kids. On Day No. 4, the students wrote letters to seniors at Job Haines. They were beautiful. And on Day No. 5, there was the MLK assembly. They did this with the school advisors for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.”

A significant lesson the governing body came to learn, according to D’Avanzo, was the limits of its power.

“Not all great ideas can be realized,” she said.

The council came up against this when planning a fundraiser so that it could have a budget and some cash on hand with which to work. A candy sale came to mind as a moneymaker, but the council wanted to know what their principal thought of it and requested her presence at a council meeting.

Lo gave the council the district policy guidelines for candy sales and said she thought friendship grams and bracelets would be a better idea allowing students to acknowledge friendships with each other. The council agreed and raised almost $300.

With some of this money, and with help from the Oak View Home and School Association, the council’s proposal for a Little Library in the garden area was realized. The council also met with the Bloomfield Middle School student council. It also had a bike rack installed on school grounds. This was an upshot of its assembly on school
safety.

“I was immensely proud of them and how they shared their ideas,” Lo said. “Students and parents are our constituents and their voices should be at the center of our
mission.”

D’Avanzo was more direct.

“They grew,” she said. “They didn’t know what they were getting into.”

Two students, one a council member and the other a classroom representative, shared their thoughts about the council’s first year and, because they are candidates again, had a few thoughts about a second year.

One student was Karina Bernal, a sixth-grader who represented students with special needs. She is running for president.

“It was exciting going into classrooms and asking teachers what changes they wanted,” Katrina said of being a representative. “I have a lot of ideas and would like to represent the whole school.”

Ella Sugiyama, a fifth-grader, was secretary to the council. She is running for re-election.

“I have more experience and would like to do something similar,” she said.