Meadowlake’s Student Council

Dear Parents and Students, August 31, 2011

We are extremely excited to announce that Meadowlake will be electing a student council for this school year. What a wonderful way to get students involved in leadership opportunities! The student council will share students’ views on issues involving our school, participate in community service activities, provide student leadership and role modeling, and represent the student population at our school. Students in 4th and 5thgrades will be participating in elections for Cabinet offices while 3rd – 5th grades will run for classroom representatives.

Elections will be held in two parts: Student Council Cabinet Electionand Classroom Representative Election. This will allow students not winning Cabinet offices to have the chance to participate in the election for classroom representative.

Below are listed the positions for each election and the requirements for student participation on the student council. Teachers will verify fulfillment of requirements.

Student Council Positions Requirements for Student Council

  • President – 5th Grade Position◊ Students must have made an A or
  • Vice President – 4th Grade Position B in all subjects for final grades last year.
  • Treasurer – 5th Grade Position◊ Students must have had a rating of
  • Secretary – 4th Grade Position satisfactory in conduct and work
  • Classroom Representative – One study.

position per 3rd – 5th grade class◊ Teacher signature verifying data.

◊ 2 faculty signatures of approval.

Students wishing to run for Student Council positions will need to complete the application. These applications (along with the approved speech) must be completed and returned no later than Friday, September 9, 2011. Any late applications or incomplete applications will be returned. Applicants will need their teacher’s signature verifying grades and conduct/work study and the signatures of two faculty members for consideration as a candidate for the elections.

Students running for classroom representative positions will also need to complete the application. The application must be turned in to Mrs. Johnson by the due date. Students applying for candidacy in the Cabinet election may also apply to run in the classroom representative election. Just check both boxes on the application. If a student is elected to a Cabinet office, he/she will be taken out of the running for classroom representative. Students may only hold one position on the student council.

The election for Cabinet offices will be held on Mon., Sept. 19, 2011. Candidates for these offices will make campaign speeches to the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders that day. Speeches will be given in the multipurpose room beginning at 1:15pm. These speeches should be no longer than 3 minutes due to time constraints and should persuade others to vote for the candidate. Candidates should give clear reasons why they are the best candidate for the Student Council Cabinet positions. Parents of the candidates are invited to attend the campaign speeches. Students will then return to class to vote by ballot for their chosen candidates. Ballots will be collected and counted by the teachers. Teachers will give a class tally to the sponsors. Sponsors will tally all class votes. The results will be announced during afternoon announcements (if time permits).

Elections for Classroom Representatives will be held in individual classrooms on Tues., Sept. 20th. Campaign speeches will be given by the candidates to their individual classrooms and follow the same requirements as the speeches given for officer positions. Votes will be taken by silent vote and counted by the teacher. Teachers will let the sponsors know who won those elections. Announcement of classroom representatives will be made in the classrooms. We, Meadowlake’s Student Council Sponsors, look forward to building strong student leadership and working with these student leaders to improve our school.

Student Council Sponsors:

Mrs. Talia P. Johnson Mrs. Koschina Davis

Meadowlake’s 2011 Student Council Elections

Sponsors: Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. K. Davis

Dear Student Council Candidates and Parents, August 31, 2011

We are so glad that you are interested in becoming a part of this year’s Meadowlake Student Council. We have an exciting few weeks before us of campaigning, speeches and elections. The guidelines for all three are given below. Please read through them and follow them carefully. Candidates not following guidelines are subject to disqualification.

Campaigning Guidelines / Speech Guidelines / Election Guidelines
  • Candidates and their supporters may wear or distribute buttons or stickers with candidates’ names and positions campaigning for, but they must be worn on shirt fronts only and may not be stuck to walls, desks, etc.
  • Candidates may make TWO sign no larger than a 14x22 poster board. (These can be purchased at Wal-Mart.)
  • Cabinet candidates may post one sign by their classroom and one leading out to PE (Sept. 12 - 16), but they must be removed immediately after elections take place.
  • Representative candidates may hang posters in their classrooms.
  • Candidates may NOT pass out candy, treats, buttons or gifts to persuade or bribe students to vote for them. Bribing will result in disqualification. Only stickers may be passed out.
  • Parents may not campaign for the student in any way.
  • Students may not make promises that they can not fulfill in their speech or in their conversations while campaigning.
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  • Speeches must be persuasive, giving clear reasons why students should vote for the candidates andmust be approved by Mrs. Johnson no later than Fri., Sept 9th.
  • Classroom Representative speeches may be approved by the classroom teacher.
  • Speeches should beno longer than three minutes due to time constraints.
  • Speeches should be written on note cards and practiced before the presentation to students and parents.
  • Speeches should not make promises that cannot be kept by the candidates after they have been elected to office.
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  • Officer Election will be held on Sept. 19th at 1:15pm in the multipurpose room. Students in grades 3-5 will attend and vote after the speeches have been given. Parents of the candidates are invited to attend.
  • Representative Elections will be held on Sept. 20th. Teachers will allow students to give speeches in the classroom.
  • Candidates running for Cabinet positions will report to the multipurpose room at 12:30pm to prepare.
  • Candidates will give speeches in alphabetical order in this sequence: secretary, vice president, treasurer and president.
  • After speeches are given, students will vote on ballots back in their classrooms. Classroom tally sheets should be sent to the sponsor to be tallied.
  • Results will be announced at the end of Election Day (if time permits).
  • Candidates for representative will follow their teacher’s guidelines for their individual speeches.
  • Representative results will be announced in the classroom.

If you have any questions or concerns about procedures, please feel free to ask. We hope to make the election process as simple and straight forward as possible. Good luck, and remember that you only lose if you never try! You are all winners for your endeavor!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Talia P. Johnsonand Mrs. Koschina Davis

*New Meeting Place: Student Council meetings will be every 3rd Tuesday at 7:50am. The meetings will be held in Mrs. Davis’ room.

Meadowlake Elementary

Student Council Application for Candidacy

2011 – 2012

Student Name ______Due Date: Friday, Sept. 9, 2011

Teacher ______Grade: ◊Third ◊Fourth ◊Fifth

*Return completed application (and approved speech) to Mrs. Johnson by the due date.

______

Requirements for Student Council Positions:

Students must have made an A or B in all subject areas last year (final grade).

Students must have had a satisfactory in both conduct and work study.

Teacher signature verifying the above requirements.

2 faculty signatures of recommendation (previous teachers, librarian, P.E. coach, counselor, Title 1 facilitator, Reading Coach, etc.)

Completed application (and approved speech) turned in by Friday, September 9, 2011.

Teacher Signature verifying requirements:

I, ______(teacher signature) have reviewed this student’s records to verify that he/she met the above requirements.

______

Student Council Position Applying For:

Note: You may check one office and the classroom representative box if you wish to run for representative after the Cabinet elections. If you win a Cabinet position, you will not run for a representative position.

Third Grade PositionFourth Grade Positions Fifth Grade Positions

◊Classroom Representative ◊Vice President ◊President

◊Secretary ◊Treasurer

◊Representative◊Representative

______

Faculty Member Recommendations:

Note: Previous teachers, the librarian, the P.E. coach, the counselor, the Reading Coach, or the Title 1 facilitator may give recommendations.

①Signature of Faculty Member Giving Recommendation ______

②Signature of Faculty Member Giving Recommendation ______

______

Student Acknowledgement of Election Responsibilities:

I ______(student signature) understand that I am taking part in elections to represent my school as a leader and a role model for other students. If my behavior is not appropriate at the time of the elections or after I have been elected to the Student Council, I understand that I will be removed from my position. I also understand that I must prepare a persuasive campaign speech to be given on September 19th for the Student Council Officer Election and/or a persuasive campaign speech to be given on September 28th for the Classroom Representative Election. I commit to be at the meetings that will be held every 3rd Tuesday at 7:50am.

______

Parent Acknowledgement of Student Council Responsibilities:

I ______(parent signature) do understand that the Student Council meetings will be every 3rd Tuesday at 7:50am and will make sure that my child is on time for each meeting.