The Student Government Association (SGA) at Charter has successfully established the principles of leadership and representation for the PPCHS student body. This year, however, they have decided to take it upon themselves to spread this leadership across Broward County and the state of Florida in hopes of further helping the community and representing Pines Charter.
Beginning this past August, SGA has started to attend the Broward County of Student Councils (BCASC) meetings. Essentially, Student Government councils from all across Broward join together to discuss the events and projects they are actively planning at their own schools. This allows all the SGA officers to comment on how their school’s SGA is working, mention any new ideas that other schools might be able to implement at their campus, and it also provides the opportunity to ask any further questions.
The ultimate goal for these meetings is to take the new ideas back to campus, in which they will help SGA improve as a whole, better their representation and school spirit. Along with these new meetings, PPCHS has become involved in the behind-the-scenes of Broward County level projects. Pines Charter has become a chairperson of the Harvest Drive project which is a non-profit that collects food and toiletry donations to distribute to families in need of food for Thanksgiving. By being selected as Chairperson, Charter has the opportunity to collaborate with other schools in the county and assist them to complete a drive at their school.
Senior SGA Second Vice-President Olivia Sinclair exclaims, “I believe this involvement is going to pan out to be a great thing for the PPCHS SGA. We’ve found an amazing community of students and teachers all with great ideas for new events and community service projects that we’re looking to implement at our school. It’s going to bring some more structure to the way we operate SGA, and I believe it will benefit the student body as a whole as well.”
Along with attending BCASC meetings, SGA has a bigger goal in mind: the Florida Leadership Convention (FASC) taking place February 21-23, 2025. This overnight trip in Orlando will give SGA the opportunity to meet with all the other Student Governments in the state. This huge event has fueled the ambitions of the SGA class to work harder and more proficient than ever before in order for the ultimate recognition which is a gold medallion awarded at FASC.
To obtain this prestigious recognition, SGA has implemented a series of new projects that are being split into committees for all SGA members to work on and complete before February. The categories include citizenship development, community service, environmental concerns, faculty/staff relations, fundraising, and health and safety. Over the next upcoming months, members will be working diligently with their team to plan and execute the activities each category holds.
Senior SGA president Jaelyn Perez explains, “I decided to involve our SGA in state events to create a clear end goal and bring a new level of professionalism to our organization. Having a major competition at the end of the year motivates our members to work harder and stay focused on achieving our goal of winning gold. State events also give me the chance to learn from how other schools run their SGA, helping me bring fresh ideas to our own.”
With the addition of these new projects and increased involvement in the county, the PPCHS Student Government along with their advisor Ms. Altimore, will continue expanding its leadership throughout Broward and across the state. So, Charter must keep an eye out for the many new events across campus that SGA will bring to continue promoting student body representation and cultivate school spirit.
