Social change and Slip ‘N Slides? West’s very own student council simultaneously took on collaborative challenges and tube rides at the Kalahari, all in the name of improving Wildcat nation. The state-wide conference was hosted by the Wisconsin Association of Student Councils (WASC). Math teacher Kimberly Kargus-Myers is the senior high school advisor representative for region three in the WASC.

“The WASC mission is to foster student leadership and empower student leaders in the state of Wisconsin,” she said. “It is a unique organization because it has equal voices among adults and students. Students sit on the collaborative leadership council, and they have a voice in passing policies, talking about programming, and making decisions within the group.”

The conference was a new experience for students and Kargus-Myers alike.

“This was the first state-wide conference we've gone to in the time I've been here,” she said. “We've gone to other WASC events, but never the state conference.”

The two-day conference had a balance of small-group and large-group activities.

“There was a series of sectional breakouts where students could learn from other schools about some different programs that they offer,” Kargus-Myers said. “There were also sessions about just general leadership topics and mental health, along with a keynote address.”

An impactful lesson was given by Kyle Sheele, who touched the hearts of listeners by sharing personal stories from his childhood.

“His main message was all it takes is one person to make a difference and I wrote down one of his quotes saying it takes one person to make you feel loved, it takes one person to make you feel unloved and it takes one person to stand up for you. So, if all it takes is one person then what are you waiting for?” said Kargus-Myers.

West’s Student Council Secretary, senior Annika Nesterick, found herself engaged straight from the first few minutes.

“We had a lot of different opportunities to learn about leadership, but I thought the best speaker that we got to listen to was our first large group session,” she said. “There was a man that came and spoke to us and the major message was the power that one individual has. I thought that was really significant and to remember the power that we have as an individual to help bring other people up.”

Kargus-Myers found session topics to be appropriate and useful.

“We always want to work on practical skills like problem solving, communication, and goal setting,” she said. “Whether it's a small project or a huge project like Homecoming, there are certain steps that need to be followed, budgets that need to be approved, and processes that need to happen and going through that I think is a great learning experience for every student.”

Senior Michael Stack found the conference to be a fresh, new experience.

“I got to meet new people from different schools that go through the same kind of things with their student council, how their student council is different, and what activities they're doing,” he said. “We don't get to have many interactions with different school members besides just competing against each other.”

Regarding leadership, members of the West Student Council found the breakout sessions took away life lessons regarding leadership as a youth.

“Leadership is not a position, it’s more of an action and something that you wake up and do every single day,” Stack said. “It's also really hard to lead a large group of people, so you're going to want to find small leaders within a large group; that way you can more efficiently lead a large group of people.”

Senior Taylor Block found ways to apply new knowledge on leadership into his own everyday life.

“There's many roles you can take being that you don't exactly have to be a leader in a position but you can lead in different circumstances,” he said.

Along with leadership, students learned about the importance and impact of other qualities.

“I think communication is something that I personally learned the most about because I'm the student body secretary,” Nesterick said. “I send out all the emails and I write the minutes for our meetings. It’s important that the way I’m communicating with our student council is in a way that’s interactive and that people are listening and getting the information they need.”

Junior Ava Albright learned an important lesson about the true meaning of leadership.

“I think the biggest takeaway is that it doesn't matter if you're in a position or not,” she said. “It doesn't matter if you’re a senior, a freshman, or if you hold office. Everybody can be a leader whether it's holding the door open for someone else or helping out within their own community.”

Senior Vice President Jarrett Schiedemeyer left the conference with many happy memories.

“My favorite part of the conference was definitely spending time with my peers and student council outside of leadership activities and being able to network with other people,” he said. “I would say definitely the crowning moment was getting to spend time with fellow student council members.”

Nesterick encourages other student council members to attend the conference in future years.

“I definitely recommend the conference to other people,” she said. “It was a great opportunity to bond as a student council and get to know everyone better. There were lots of important messages that were shared throughout the conference and overall it was just a lot of fun.”

The conference allowed junior Alli Brown to branch out of her comfort zone and form new connections.

“I would definitely consider going back because it was a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s a great way to get out of the house, and it was just overall a good experience to not only meet people from other schools, but also to engage within the community of WASC and the people in it.”

Along with the fun experiences, Kargus-Myers hopes lessons learned from the conference will stay with students for a lifetime.

“In my opinion, whenever you take a school group to a conference of any kind, as long as they come back with one good thing, then I think it's beneficial,” she said. “My hope is that everyone walked away with something, whether it was a new idea to bring back to West, or a new idea about being a positive leader within the school, family or community groups. That makes it worthwhile.”

By Hannah Chung

Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue 7

April 25th, 2022

Leadership conference wets Wildcat appetite for change, evolution