Despite recent changes in the school setting, Student Government Association (SGA) is still having meetings. While there is not a lot that the SGA can do online and under these circumstances, these students, specifically the Executive Board, are still doing all they can.

    The SGA Executive Board consists of mainly a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and sergeant at arms, although any other students are allowed to join the General Assembly meetings. They have discussed fundraising, school dances, and parliamentary procedure so far while only having had one meeting. The Student Government also has upcoming events, most importantly the Fall Leadership Conference(FLC). To register for FLC, students were able to register through their SGA Remind and tell their student council advisor. The NHHS Executive Board advisor is Mrs. Martin and while each grade’s student council has not been set up in this school year yet, each grade does have their own advisor for SGA. 

    The Fall Leadership Conference is a Harford County SGA (HCRASC) meeting where students in middle and high school along with teachers can learn valuable life skills through workshops. Unfortunately, this year FLC is online, so the different workshops will be held in breakout rooms, however these workshops will still include topics such as leadership, diversity, debating, and confidence! The FLC will also still have all student-run workshops! Students are able to hone in on their leadership skills during the Maryland Association of Student Council’s (MASC’s) first leadership conference of the year. These students meet other like-minded individuals in this learning environment.

    The focus of this year’s FLC is mental health due to the growing challenges that are amplified in virtual schooling. MASC is hoping to provide helpful tips for all students to get through this. More than one third of students in online school displayed signs of either anxiety, depression, or both. A survey from the CDC stated that eleven percent of those survey-takers had seriously considered suicide because of recent events. So, to provide these mental health tips, the MASC has invited several qualified guest speakers. 

    According to the MASC Instagram, @md.studco, there will be three guest speakers, including Candace Yoder, Lamarr Womble, and Lori Hayes. Candace Yoder, the Executive Director of the Matthew Silverman Memorial Foundation, has helped over 400,000 young adults by educating them of mental health. Lamarr Womble, founder of Passion for Leadership, and Lori Hayes, founder of the Howard Leading Ladies Club, were both inspired to bring about change by founding these mental health related groups. 

    Freshman Elizabeth Herron,who has gone to FLC in previous years, stated “the best part of FLC is seeing and meeting all the new students and attending general assemblies. It’s so interesting to see everyone working together.”  The Fall Leadership Conference has taught her “that it’s important to always be prepared for any outcome, especially when being a workshop facilitator.” Workshop facilitators “must be ready for any inconvenience and must always have a backup room.” Although FLC won’t be the same this year, Elizabeth “think[s] it’s great that we’re doing it virtually because students will still have the chance to learn new things and expand on their opinions/ideas.” She expressed that “FLC is much more personal when it’s in person, but I’m still looking forward to it!”

Lamarr Womble, a public speaker from the Matthew Silverman Memorial Foundation, will be a guest speaker in this conference.

Source: https://mdstudentcouncils.org/index.php/fall-leadership-conference/