UAHS Student Council Co-President discusses her plans for the school year.
BY GRETA MILLER, ‘23. PHOTO BY BELLA VANMETER, ‘22. GRAPHICS BY CAROLINE KEGG, ‘24.
On a sunny September morning, senior Lucy McCabe has a lot of things on her to-do list. In addition to working part-time at a smoothie shop and being a basketball cheer captain, McCabe is co-president of Upper Arlington High School’s Student Council. Together with senior Grant Overmyer, she is responsible for leading the school’s roughly 30-plus-member Student Council team.
“A lot of people think that Student Council is about changing the school, but honestly we do not do much about that. We do more charitable things,” McCabe said.
One of McCabe’s priorities is the Homecoming dance because ticket sales from the dance account for a large portion of Student Council’s revenue for the year. The group spends a considerable amount of time planning, organizing and creating the Homecoming dance so that they can then allocate those funds throughout the school year to charitable causes such as grants for student clubs, blood drives, food drives and holiday gifts for families in need.
McCabe’s connection to student government and charitable efforts has been a long one. She was a class officer all three years of middle school and transitioned into Student Council as a high school freshman, remaining involved all four years.
“The process of getting involved in Student Council depends on your year in high school,” McCabe said.
As a freshman, the process is a little less formal considering teachers recommend a few kids. Sophomores, juniors and seniors, however, must complete an application and be voted into Student Council by their grade- level classmates during the spring of the previous year. There are eight to nine members selected per grade. Becoming a co-president is a little more complicated—a candidate must be a rising senior in Student Council, have a running mate, write and present a speech to the entire student body, and then receive the most votes from all four grade levels.
The years on Student Council have been well worth it for McCabe. She said she believes her gradually increasing responsibilities in the group have provided her with valuable leadership skills that have helped her to grow as a student.
While she said the hardest part of being co- president is remembering to maintain her composure, being that she is always on display, her favorite part of being co-president with Overmyer this year is getting all members regardless of their ages involved and part of the decision-making process. She sees the value and importance of listening to everyone’s opinions and working with different personalities.
“I like that it is not just Grant and I making the decisions,” McCabe said.
One of the co- presidents’ top efforts this year will be letting the entire student body know more of what Student Council is doing throughout the year. They have recently created an Instagram page—@uahsstudentcouncil—and welcome new followers. The group’s upcoming activities—including quarterly donation drives and noteworthy accomplishments—will be posted on the page. This social media presence will allow non-members to be more involved in Student Council’s activities and the good that they do.
“I love Student Council. I think it has really made me feel a part of something at the school, and I think it is really fun. Ms. Brown, the Student Council teacher leader, is super sweet, and I feel like I have made a lot of friends from it too,” McCabe said.