Brecksville Broadview Heights Student Government is a student-run organization within the high school that involves students in school and community level government activities. They work year round to plan and organize events and activities for students, such as Homecoming, Naturalization Ceremonies, pep rallies, decorating the school, spirit weeks, and more.
All of the planning and organization is done through a structured government in which the representatives are elected through school-wide polls. To be chosen for the executive board, someone must go through interview processes with the president, vice president, and the advisor Jonah Pichette. Overall, after careful and fair elections and assignments, student government functions professionally to help with all events and activities at the school.
The main event that Student Government plans is Homecoming. All of the branches/committees work together to plan a different aspect of the dance. The Clubs and Activities Committee, run by juniors Adelyn Rahe and Grace Kucharski, is responsible for planning and coordinating the Homecoming Parade. Most representatives’ favorite part of homecoming planning is decorating their grades float that they use in the parade. Rahe says, “Overall, planning the parade involved a lot of coordinating with other groups. Between various StuGo committees, teams, and administrators there were a lot of moving parts involved in making the parade run.”
The Student Outreach Committee, run by senior Carmen Beeson and junior Adriana Tartara, is in charge of organizing and running the Pep Rally. However, due to Beeson’s participation in the school’s homecoming court, Tartara was fully in charge of making sure everything ran as planned. Tartara says, “Pep rally planning was stressful, but so worth it to watch it all come together.”
When it comes to the dance, everyone in Student Government helps to set up/take down. The juniors and seniors helped set up the decorations for the dance the morning of homecoming and the freshmen and sophomores help take down the decorations once everyone leaves.
Another event planned by our Student Government is the Naturalization ceremony. This event involves 20 immigrants taking their final step to becoming official U.S. citizens. While the legislative branch takes care of planning Homecoming, the executive branch takes control of planning this event.
senior Isabel Olecki leads the organization, with support from other project managers Bailey Miller, Tatiana Tchepak, and Rachel Kirin. President Simon Youseff opens and closes the court, and Council Chair Aya Katergi gives a speech. Youseff explains, “It was genuinely a really fun experience. I got to meet families from Nigeria, Lebanon, the Philippines, and England (we bonded over being Liverpool fans), plus a family friend from Egypt.”
Overall, Student Government has benefited the community in many ways and has played a huge role in planning important events for our school. Using their organized and structured system, Student Government is a functional and exceptional form of government for students, especially for students who want to pursue a job in Government in their future. Vice Council Chair Nicholas Toth would recommend Student Government to students because, “It provides a good opportunity for freshmen who don’t get many opportunities for leadership.”
Student Government is a good way to be involved and make new friends. Senior Representative Caitlin Mihalek says, “I joined Student Government because I wanted to be involved with the school and my friends were all in it.”
Student Council also helps with fundraising for other student run organizations. In addition, they vote to generously donate to help support other clubs. For example, HyBreeze appreciates the Student Government for their generous donation of $150!
A tremendous thank you Mr. Pichette and members of student council for allowing HyBreeze to upgrade our site!
