For the 2024-2025 school year, the CVHS Student Council (STUCO) aims to reinvigorate school spirit through its new initiatives.
Currently, STUCO is planning to enhance student engagement by implementing proposals such as bringing back the coffee bar — a popular idea championed by STUCO Secretary Coulson Batchelor, whose main role involves keeping track of council meetings and outlining the council’s goals.
“Bringing back the coffee bar has definitely been one of the main pledges that the current STUCO cabinet has made, but there’s so much more that we are planning. To substitute for the lack of Fish Camp, we are trying to organize a bowling night or a game of flag football between Carnegie and DeBakey, and we’re trying to raise the overall school spirit,” Batchelor said.
Despite STUCO’s ambitious plans, Batchelor acknowledges that STUCO needs to comply with the regulations of the HISD administration.
“We definitely need to ensure that our proposals get approved and meet HISD standards. Ultimately, I believe that the primary responsibility of the STUCO cabinet is to ensure that the valuable ideas that are put forward by grade level representatives are prioritized,” Batchelor says.
Batchelor also highlighted the balance STUCO must maintain while pursuing its initiatives and navigating administrative constraints.
“HISD definitely has a bureaucratic structure, and it can take a while for our proposals to get approved. In one sense, that’s great, because it teaches students how to work in a hierarchy. On the other hand, it potentially limits the accomplishments and the stuff that STUCO can put forward. However, at the moment, we are just trying to look forward and see what we can do with our limited power,” Batchelor said.
Assistant Principal Juan Garner notes that STUCO has historically played a significant role in organizing school functions and doing as much as possible to contribute to the CVHS community.
“Whether it is the volleyball tournament or Carnegie’s International Festival, some of the most significant social events on campus have been initiated by STUCO presidents,” Garner said.
Garner, who is the sponsor of the Student Council, holds the main responsibility for ensuring that collected money is accounted for. He also does his best to ensure that STUCO is working on policies that will benefit the broader CVHS community.
“As of now, I’m suggesting to the Student Council that they create a constitution to ensure that tasks are properly assigned to each cabinet member and grade-level representative. Ultimately, I want to make sure that the voices of not just the cabinet, but also the broader Student Council are accounted for and heard,” Garner said.
Currently, the entirety of the Student Council cabinet consists of seniors. While acknowledging the dominance of the senior class in this year’s STUCO cabinet, Batchelor believes that the council is making efforts to ensure that Carnegie students are adequately represented.
“I was at first happy that my friends had won, but then I soon thought, ‘How can we make sure that we are representing the broader student population?’ One thing that I want to emphasize is that the Student Council is trying its best to ensure that different ideas and perspectives are being accounted for,” Batchelor said.
Ultimately, this year’s Student Council aims to build on the progress of previous years while simultaneously ensuring that the voices of grade representatives are heard.
