Leaving a Legacy: Shaping the Future of WHS Student Council

For Wylie High School senior Joseph Hernandez, leadership isn’t about holding a title. It’s about transformation — for himself, for the council, for the school and for the community.

In their final months as the leaders of Student Council, Hernandez and his fellow club officers have a plan: to increase the membership and participation of the Student Council program at WHS.

“My mission is to grow our school as a student body to empower our classes and make sure we fulfill the needs of students and school spirit,” Hernandez said.

From just a few active members at the beginning of the school year to now, the organization has well over 100 active members.

Student Council remains active year-round, starting with I Have a Plan Night in August and continuing through the summer months. Members stay busy organizing and executing a wide range of events and activities, including key homecoming celebrations like the annual homecoming dance.

“We get a lot of student input,” Hernandez said. “We want to make sure that our student voices are heard. We just had our spring event, a fundraiser -- the talent show. We also do lots of staff appreciation, help with the canned food drive, organize homecoming coronation and do the friendship gift exchanges at home football games. We help a lot with back to school, teacher luncheons, and Chalk the Walk.”

With the responsibility of organizing numerous events, the leadership team needs to meet frequently. This year marks the first time they have a dedicated class that meets daily to coordinate their efforts.

Under the guidance of new Student Council Sponsors Kim Campbell, Taryn McMillen and Tamera Garrett, the Student Council leadership team now has the opportunity to collaborate every day during fourth period.

“I am most proud of the initiative and involvement students have taken on this year,” Garrett said. “Especially Joseph. He and Delaney [Schilpp] took charge of getting the information to join the Texas Association of Student Councils. They worked closely with Wylie East Student Council. The kids gathered all the information to make the trip to the conference possible. It was impressive.”

For the first time, Wylie High Student Council attended the TASC conference held in Arlington.

“We heard a lot of motivational speakers and attended breakout sessions,” Hernandez said. “One of the big things for me was the Table Talks where other schools presented their projects. I thought that was good for us. We had eight students attend eight different table talks. It was great because those kids are just like us. They love Student Council. They love their school. It was judgment-free.”

The sponsors and Hernandez all attribute such a successful learning experience at TASC to the Wylie East Student Council, led by Breegan Gholson.

“They helped us open the door to a lot of opportunities,” Hernandez said. “Without their help, we would not have gone to TASC where we learned so much and bonded as a council. It allowed us to build a legacy of community. After hearing all about TASC, I wanted to leave a legacy of joining TASC and our school being a part of something big. So big, that it betters our school and our program.”

Hernandez wants to leave a legacy that reaches beyond Wylie High School.

“One of the things I want to improve upon is expanding more, not just in the high school, but elementary schools and the community as a whole,” Hernandez said. “At TASC, we heard from Northwest High School which has Kindness Clicks to promote safe and positive social media usage. I would love to teach that to the younger kids in our elementary schools.”

Wylie High students interested in joining Student Council can get involved by attending any meeting. Visit AHMO STUCO on Instagram for meeting times.

“Students can truly make a difference,” Campbell said. “I don’t think they know how much power they have to impact others.”