The Haystack

The student news site of Wheat Ridge High School

The student news site of Wheat Ridge High School

The Haystack

The student news site of Wheat Ridge High School

The Haystack

    Like Ma Bell, Farmer Senate’s Got the Ill Communication

    Picture+by+Joe+Vigil
    Picture by Joe Vigil

    By Joe Vigil

    The Wheat Ridge High School senate is a student-run governing body and a representative leadership contingency. But what does it actually do?

    What gets accomplished during senate meetings?

    Many students on the Farm do not have the slightest idea what Senate does. Quite a few don’t even know that it exists. “No idea,” said sophomore Lloyd Santistevan when asked what senate does. “I don’t even know,” said senior Vixay Chanthavongsa when prompted with the same question. Those who did know what senate is were either indifferent towards it or openly expressed their dislike. “They’re not that great. The Homecoming dance was pretty cool but other than that…,” said sophomore Mark Dingle. “It’s alright…They should make dances more fun,” said fellow sophomore Larry Villa. “It’s alright,” said senior Kenny McCarthy in the same vein. “(They’re) okay,” said senior Aaron Torres. “I don’t hear much from what they do.”

    Senate’s class structure is a bit unusual. The entire student senate meets for 10-15 minutes at the beginning of class where they are briefed by sponsors Tim Slater and Tom Dowd and the Student Body President and senior Joe Wirth. After that, they separate into individual classes that meet in various rooms throughout the school. Each class has separate responsibilities. The freshmen are currently responsible for planning the Sadie Hawkins dance and a team bonding activity; the sophomores are responsible for fundraising; the juniors are responsible for planning prom; and the seniors are responsible for managing the selection of a class song, flower, motto and colors as well as selecting a senior gift

    Picture by Joe Vigil
    Picture by Joe Vigil
    Kullerstrand Elementary Instructional Coach Crista Hankinson briefs senate on a volunteer opportunity at her school during class Oct. 25

    Senate has been able to accomplish all of its tasks, but communication with the student body has not been one of senate’s areas of strength recently. “There is a disconnect with the student body, and we are trying to work on communication,” said Wirth.

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    Slater said that he is “Talking about it [communication] with (senate) kids, but it’s not good.” He pointed out that senators do their own announcements and post monthly videos, that senate does not want to interrupt classes if at all possible and added that they are working on putting something on the monitor in the lobby but conceded that “It needs to improve.”

    The lack of communication with the student body has been a major factor in many of the issues senate has had so far this year. Many students were dissatisfied with the senior class song—“Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” by the Beach Boys—and class motto—“so fresh, so clean, class of 2014”—voted on at the senior meeting and dismissed the selection of Wirth and Senior Class President Teagan Wooden as homecoming royalty to be casual corruption and abuse of power by elected officials—ironically neither were elected to their position.

    However, Wirth said that the selection of the motto and song was “hard because there’s a lot of kids that take (voting) seriously but just as many that don’t.” Wirth added that there was a second ballot  handed out to English teachers to narrow down the selections made at the assembly but said that “If you didn’t vote, the teacher didn’t (conduct voting) or you were (absent)”  then your voice wasn’t heard. And senior treasurer Kylie Herr added that the homecoming royalty results put Wooden and Wirth in an uncomfortable position because they were the two highest vote-getters after a few finalists were eliminated due to poor grades, an outcome that might have warranted suspicion. The votes, however, were not counted by senior senators but rather a separate spirit committee composed primarily of sophomores.

    The confusion over senate stems not only from a lack of communication with the student body but also from the role senate takes on at Wheat Ridge. At most schools, senate acts as a representative body for students that anyone can be a part of and a liaison between the student body and faculty. However, at Wheat Ridge, Wirth said, “That role is not as prevalent as it is at other schools because the student body and faculty are more close here.” This tends to lead senate to focus more on their other roles, including event planning, fund raising and leadership. Not only that, but the structure of senate is much different at Wheat Ridge than it is at other schools. At other schools, such as McComb High School in Mississippi, any junior in their spring semester can run for Student Body President, according to student Zacchaeus McEwen. At Wheat Ridge, prospective senators must apply to be a member of the class, which caps at 35 members, and applications are looked at with less frequency after 50 have been submitted.

    “We don’t advertise a ton after 50,” said Slater, who also said that “If previous senators who have done well want to return, their chances of staying are great.” There has also been an effort by Slater and Dowd to recruit a wider, more diverse range of students to apply. Additionally, leadership positions within senate are voted on by senators. This, plus a few rules that restrict people new to senate from running for Student Body President, can lead to people—such as Wirth and Wooden—running unopposed for their positions.

    Picture by Joe Vigil
    Picture by Joe Vigil
    Student Body President Joe Wirth (left) listens to Hankinson’s volunteer briefing on Oct. 25

    Senate has also faced internal issues that stem from poor communication. Because of the class structure, senate rarely gets the opportunity to work on projects as one collective unit. This has led to divisions at the class level, such as the sophomores being accused of being ill prepared to plan a dance by the rest of senate. “Slater said that the school isn’t ready for a fourth dance, but really the sophomores aren’t ready for it,” said an anonymous source in freshman senate. However, the sophomore senate does not see it like that. “‘Mr. T’ Slater shot down sophomore senate’s idea for a fourth dance,” said sophomore senator Mason Hagaman. “That’s part of the communication (problem) Slater has emphasized,” said Wirth. “Senate’s very class divided as opposed to last year. That’s something we’re trying to fix because it works better when there is less division.”

    Communication is at the heart of most of senate’s current issues, but not all is bad. “They’re doing their best,” said senior Grant Cozart. “I like it. I really want to be in senate,” said junior Kate Baier. With a little bit more time and work, Slater believes senate can improve as part of the learning process. But he said “We’re doing all that we can right now.”

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    • C

      connectionNov 6, 2013 at 12:59 pm

      they should work on the dances they have now before they work on making another one. personally, I hate the dances because they only are geared towards the jocks. there are no slow dances and, for the price, they suck for anyone who doesn’t want to grind and flash people. work on what you have now before taking more on. also COFFEE CART FOR SENIOR GIFT!!!!!!!

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    • W

      What A RagOct 28, 2013 at 5:18 pm

      Talk about a group no ones know about. Ask a student, what is the Haystack? No one knows what it is. Then when you read it, you know why. I have never heard of any of the staff. The quality of writing is a joke. Look at yourself before you point the finger at any other school groups. No one knows you exist, and after reading your rag edition, I won’t waste my time again.

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