Taft student council honored by state body for second straight year

Taft High 7-12 was one of 16 high schools honored recently at a banquet in Portland by the Oregon Association of Student Councils (OASC) for outstanding achievement by its governing body.

Taft received Gold Status, the highest honor, for the second year in a row.

The OASC-sponsored award sets high standards for councils and recognizes their accomplishment when standards are met, OASC Executive Director Sara Nilles said.

Councils begin by setting goals in the fall and work hard all year to achieve them. In order to receive the award, councils must be involved in community service, activities that promote school spirit and pride, sportsmanship, unity, recognition, and involvement in leadership training.

“Student leaders have the opportunity to make a tremendous impact on the culture and climate of their school and the academic success of their student body by the activities they sponsor,” said Nilles, whose association serves middle and high school student councils around the state as a department within COSA (Confederations of Oregon School Administrators).

The schools were recognized at the annual Spring Conference banquet, held April 28 at the Red Lion Hotel on the River in Portland. High Schools will be recognized again at the annual Fall Conference in November in Seaside.

“Receiving Gold Status for the second year in a row is quite exciting,” Taft junior Fatima Lupercio-Rubio said. “We always knew we could get some sort of recognition when we attended conferences and were honestly surprised we got Gold Status the first year we had applied.

“I want to give a huge shoutout to Veronica Jin, our Historian, and Autumn Ellis, our ASB President, for putting together our application this year. I hope future ASB classes can continue to receive this recognition through OASC since the application itself offers plenty of ideas to better the lives of our Tigers.

“We wear the blue ribbons on our names tags at OASC proudly as they serve as reminder of all the things we as an ASB class have done to serve our peers, school, and community.”

Karissa Snelling, ESL/Leadership Teacher for Taft 7-12, said: “The OASC Leadership Recognition Program gives student councils not only the means to plan and evaluate events and participation throughout the year, but it also gives councils the ability to challenge themselves by offering up ways to expand upon the programs that are already a part of school culture. Next year, Taft ASB would like to push even further into the realms of spirit and service.”