CHS Student Council Receives Award, Recognition

The Carroll High School Student Council project “Once Upon a Dragon” earned top honors at the Texas Association of Student Councils (TASC) Annual Conference. The project was named a top ten project in the state.

TASC is the largest student council association in the world, and the ten projects recognized at its conference represented the projects with the greatest community impact that reached the largest number of people with the most significant results from across the State of Texas.

The effects of the project are evident just by walking down the hallways of Carroll High School. Rows and rows of books are lined up, stapled in the hallway, representing the enormous number of books the students have read. Over the course of the year, Carroll High School students have read over 3,000 books. One of the many reading activities the Student Council has lead was reading children’s books at the Goddard Preschool to draw kids into reading at an early age. The time spent reading has been shown to greatly increase vocabulary as well as writing skills which directly correlates to college entrance exam scores, such as the SAT and ACT. The primary goal of the project is to spark an interest in reading, so much that students will desire to read outside the confines of a classroom, which is something that has been declining over that past years. As a whole, Once Upon a Dragon… has completely changed the view on reading at Carroll High School.

“[Once Upon a Dragon…] has directly contributed to increased student reading on other works involved in the curriculum and is impacting our test scores as well,” said CHS teacher Shane Bybee.

While funding for student activities continues to be cut across the state, student council members with the volunteer assistance of their advisers raise the funds necessary to conduct projects and support their schools and communities.

“As student councils members across the state of Texas cross the stage to pick up their diplomas, more and more will be moving on to college and careers with a commitment to public service, civic participation, and the knowledge that they make a difference in their communities and their lives through service to others and participation in the democratic process,” said Terry Hamm, Director of Texas Association of Student Councils. “I am constantly amazed at the contributions made by high school student council members under the guidance of exceptional Student Council advisers.  Congratulations to these councils and their students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their school, their communities, and their world. These students embody TASC’s dedication to student voice, student engagement, and student leadership.”

“I’m extremely proud of my students for putting their hearts into this project,” said Brandi Hunt, CHS Student Council advisor. “They worked hard on our reading initiative this year and I’m excited that they are being recognized for their dedication to the program.”

These young people develop proven skills in team building, problem solving, project planning, and decision making.  Through their co-curricular activities, student council members serve their communities while strengthening their academic and civic skills.

“This project was really eye-opening to me because for some reason, I just stopped reading after 7th grade. This definitely has brought me back to reading,” said Joshua Choe, Student Council officer at Carroll High School.

The 2012-13 CHS officers are Joshua Choe, Harris Jensen, Paige Johnson, Allie Miller, Audrey Ohlhaber, Chandler Smith, and Summer Terry.