MANSFIELD — “The kids run the whole shebang.”
A proud Senior High Student Council Advisor Jen Lepard sat back in her chair as she relished in her spare minutes Friday afternoon amidst the Ohio Association of Student Councils 63rd Annual State Conference. Mansfield Senior High School hosted this year’s event — it’s been on Lepard’s and her council members’ calendar since the beginning of the school year.
Lepard offered assistance for all the logistics behind hosting the three-day conference, but she said the point of student council is to make leaders. So the 45 members were on their own when it came to making the conference a success.
And in Lepard’s eyes, the students achieved just that. A total of 325 student council delegates from schools across Ohio joined in on the state conference. All of those students participated in a council convention Thursday evening, many general sessions, leadership workshops, a gala dinner and a dance Friday evening.
“That’s how they learn. It’s all about the kids here and making sure they become the best leaders — the leaders of tomorrow,” Lepard said Friday afternoon.
Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker, who graduated from Mansfield Senior High and served on student council, was impressed.
“There’s a lot of young people there that will become our future leaders. I just urge them to stay involved and to continue to get involved. We need leaders that can help make this world, Ohio especially, a better place to live,” Theaker said.
But student council members don’t just have the potential to become leaders in the community, said Theaker, their involvement enriches their personal futures.
Lepard said student council members often get offered scholarships from universities. She referred to Malik Mason, an achieved student council president who graduated in 2015. Mason earned an internship with Urban League in Cleveland last summer because of his involvement with student council.
“When you’re doing something like this, it’s so good for putting on a resume and a cover letter for a job. You just learn a lot,” Lepard said.
Lepard said middle school student Karmen Peterson is on a similar track as Mason’s.
Peterson hopes to earn a spot on OASC’s state board. If she makes it, Lepard said she would be the first female student from Mansfield schools to ever serve on the prestigious board.
On Friday afternoon, Mansfield Middle School and Senior High School won recognition and a five-star Army of Volunteers award.
“I love it (student council),” Lepard said. I just want kids to see that there are more things available to them in life outside of Mansfield. I want them to experience different things. Some of them have hidden talents that I want to find and help develop.”
