The J. Taylor Finley Middle School student council is at full strength with a group of four energetic executive board members and two enthusiastic faculty advisors guiding the organization.
“Although this year is very different from years past, Finley Middle School and the student government have been moving right along to ensure that the student body is able to participate in safe school activities and have their voices heard,” said teacher Keith Miller, who along with faculty colleague Dana Rogan serves as the student council advisor.
Eighth grader Nina Fascilla is president of the J. Taylor Finley Middle School student government.
This year’s slate of officers include Nina Fascilla (president), Elizabeth James (vice president), Wynne Franciscovich (treasurer) and Molly O’Brien (secretary).
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and all the changes it has necessitated to regular school operations, the two faculty advisors decided to have students who were candidates for office create campaign videos for the respective position they were seeking.
“Since kids are split up in different cohorts, we thought this would be a really great way for all of the students to be able to see who the candidates were and what they had to say,” Ms. Rogan said.
Seventh graders were permitted to run for the positions of treasurer and secretary. “We felt this was a really great opportunity for seventh graders to get involved in student government and the activities and functions that we are involved with” Mr. Miller said. “Some of these students have experience with student government, so it is really nice to let them continue that if they want to.”
The two advisors also instituted the positions of class representatives for the seventh and eighth grade student teams in the building. “The idea behind class representatives is to give students the opportunity to share information and be included in student government in a more informal way,” Mr. Miller said. “It also gives students who were not chosen for a specific position, the opportunity to still be involved.”
Finley’s student government has been working with the school’s national junior honor society chapter to gather food donations for the Thanksgiving holiday. Seventh and eighth graders have been bringing in non-perishable items for local families who are in need. “These food items are donated to local food banks and are very helpful for our local community,” Ms. Rogan said.
The organization also hopes to continue with many of its traditional activities, including Spirit Week and food and toy drives. Students and advisors are also brainstorming new COVID-19 safe ideas designed to benefit both the student body and the community.
“I am looking forward to some great ideas from our student government and some safe activities that can help build school spirit this year,” Finley Principal Traci Roethel said.