In a 2002 essay in Education Digest, Minnesota teacher Rick Theisen decries the trend he sees in student councils across the country, in which students focus their efforts on planning social activities instead of addressing the broader civic responsibilities of their role.

Student governments at two local high schools are part of that trend. Representatives from Franklin Central High School in southeastern Marion County and Carmel High School in Hamilton County agree that their main responsibility is to plan events, not act as champions for student concerns.

"If any issue would arise, student government pretty much deals with it and takes it to the administration. But we just don't have that many issues that the students are upset about," said Molly Giles, 18, Carmel.

Recently, Molly and Annie Graham, 18, from Carmel met with Melissa Burnette, 17, and Erin Knoop, 17, from Franklin Central to discuss the successes and shortcomings of the student governments in which they are involved.

Faculty picks members

The student councils at both schools differ in many aspects, starting with the selection of officers. At Franklin Central, class officers are elected, but council members are chosen by faculty.

At Carmel, student government is divided into three bodies: the house, the senate and the class officers. Officers and senators are elected by their peers; candidates for the house submit an application to the faculty adviser.

The students see student government as an indispensable part of high school. They agree with Molly, who said, "I get to know what goes on behind the school, and I get to meet lots of people who I wouldn't meet normally."

But council affairs do not always run smoothly, especially at Franklin Central. Although students there have tried to talk to the administration about different issues, those students said the administration is not always open to negotiation. "They just think we're high school students, so we don't have any ideas," Melissa said.

The girls say the Franklin Central administration resists change. "Our advisers just like how it is right now and don't really want to change anything," Erin said.

The Franklin Central student council organizes dances, fund-raisers and service projects, but it is not allowed to plan any convocations and has only one pep session a year, the girls said. The students weren't even allowed to have a pep session when the basketball team won the sectional championship.

Frank Sergi, assistant principal at Franklin Central, sympathized with the girls but said a four-year construction project at the school limited its ability to hold assemblies. "I can see where they're coming from because of the construction issues. Seniors will have had only one year where there hasn't been major construction," he said.

In contrast, the relationship between the student council and administration at Carmel is more relaxed. Molly said their school allows many convo cations and pep sessions, with the student government heavily involved in organizing them. Student government also arranges blood drives, dances, fund-raisers and community-service events.

Annie said the council's relationship with the administration is ideal. "All of our administrators are always visible, always accessible. They're kind to us. In return, we respect them," she said.

The Carmel students say open communication is the key to good rapport between the administration and the council. Both parties meet at least once a month, discussing the issues, possibilities and limitations that each side faces when organizing events.

Molly described one such meeting last summer: "They took us out to breakfast, and we sat down and worked out what dates we wanted on the calendars, and they OK'd it. Of course, we had to figure out what worked best."

While the administrations seem to view the student bodies differently at both schools, students also have different attitudes toward the administrations.

Franklin Central students don't hold the administration in high esteem, Melissa said. "Our student body is really anti-school administration. That might sound weird, but they do stuff and they plan events just to get back at our administration." She gave an example: "Everyone went through the lunch line and paid with pennies. The school found out, so the next day we had signs all over our cafeteria saying, 'You cannot pay in change, you have to pay with bills.' "

At Carmel, the student body holds no visible animosity toward the administration. Sometimes students get loud at convocations, though, "but that's really our only problem," Annie said.

Event canceled

Erin said Franklin Central students are upset with some of the changes at the school.

"We used to have a thing called Blue and White. It was pretty much a talent show, like people could get up and do whatever they wanted. It was really fun. But our administration thought that it was too unruly, since it wasn't led by a faculty member, and they canceled it last year," she said.

There are frustrations concerning different events at Carmel, too. "We're not allowed to do anything Halloween-related because it promotes certain things to some people," Molly said.

Students from both schools think the success of student government depends on the quality of the relationship between the administration and the council. "I think that if each party compromised and worked things out, it would be better for the school," Melissa said.

However, the girls are content that the main role of their student governments is to plan events, not confront the administration about issues that concern students.

"We have tried to talk to them about different issues, and they pretty much just tell us their way is the only way. So we just stick to what we're good at and what we enjoy doing," Erin said.

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Ruth Shirley, 17.

REPORTER: Cakey Worthington, 12.

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