Evergreen Junior High School has replaced its student council with a new organization to get more student leaders involved.

When school officials decided there was not enough interest in student council, they discontinued the program and asked students to come up with ideas. 

In January, the Evergreen Junior High Leadership Club was formed.

Adviser Pam Doty said the club has been successful bringing in about 30 students at the optional weekly meetings. The incentive for attending is a desire to take leadership roles in organizing fun school activities and service projects with an emphasis on benefiting their community.

“Our student council was not fulfilling the role we had hoped it would,” Doty said. “We didn’t get enough kids to run for office. In student council you were elected. This is for anybody who wants to join, so it removes the popularity [contest] from it.” 

There were several factors that students liked about the new club. More students could be involved and they didn’t have to be elected to gain leadership and volunteer experience or be involved in their school. 

“We have three goals that we set every quarter,” Doty said: a community activity, a school activity and a leadership activity. “It’s driven by them. I am a facilitator.”

What students gave up in the process, though, were activities the student council formerly organized such as dances.

The leadership club was able to host one dance this year, but it was with a purpose. Dance proceeds of about $100 were donated to The Samaritan House. 

Other recent events included a clothing drive where about 10 bags were collected for The Samaritan House.

Members also participated in a schoolwide trash pickup on Earth Day. Glacier High School Student Council member Hunter Garbacz also was invited as a guest speaker to talk about leadership.

While the student council was open to fifth- through eighth-graders, the leadership club is only open to seventh- and eighth-graders.

“This is a pivotal age for kids to learn how to give back,” Doty said, noting that the student council seemed to organize self-contained activities within the school building.

“They need to learn how to reach outside themselves and so this is the age those skills — those ideas — start to become embedded, so it was critical we have something,” Doty said.

Doty met with seventh-graders during a April 25 lunch meeting where she reminded them to thank the eighth-graders for making sacrifices — such as dances — to get the club up and going.

“You are going to be the guiding force in the next year, but are you aware that your eighth-graders this year really were the foundation for this,” Doty said. “When you thank people for their service, it really teaches them, ‘Man, what I did, what I sacrificed was really for a good reason.”

Seventh-graders Malia Gibson and James Gelormino joined the Leadership Club to help out the school and be involved.

“It’s nice to have a voice in what goes on in the school,” Gibson said.

Although Gelormino was planning to join the student council, he said the leadership group has attracted more student interest. Gelormino was part of the recent dance committee organizing the decorations, music, lighting, food, drinks and table setup.

“It took us probably five weeks,” Gelormino said.

Gibson was on the committee that organized The Samaritan House clothing drive. Having previously volunteered there, Gibson brought the idea to her classmates and explained what she learned about the organization’s needs.

“We get to see what goes on in our community and have a voice in our school,” Gibson said.

Both plan to continue with leadership activities in high school and Gelormino said the Evergreen club has provided the knowledge of what it takes.

Upcoming events include reading with elementary students and school activities such as powder puff football and volleyball. Students also have voiced their desire to hold more dances next year — with an exception: “They have to tie it to something bigger than themselves,” Doty said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.