Michael Flynn is the youth services coordinator for Estill County Middle School in Irvine, KY, and a longtime adviser for the school’s student council. He’ll be bringing 23 student council members to the National Student Council Conference happening January 31–February 2 in Chicago. The event is co-located with the National Honor Society Conference. Below, Flynn shares the top five reasons Honor Society and student council advisers should attend.
1. NASSP organizes good conferences.
I’ve attended NASSP student leadership conferences annually for 30 years. And my experience is that NASSP always puts on high-quality conferences, regardless of what umbrella they fall under. I’m really looking forward to bringing my kids from our small rural community in Kentucky to Chicago to expose them to a more global perspective.
2. Conferences like this expand my students’ horizons.
We have 424 students in grades 6–8, and our population of students of color is less than one percent. I appreciate the opportunity for our students to meet peers from diverse backgrounds. I’ve seen some of our kids go off to college or other destinations after they graduate, and it’s such a culture shock that some of them actually end up coming back home. When I talk to my student council members who traveled to different conferences and were exposed to different people, they have a much higher success rate out in the world. That’s really a tremendous benefit.
3. It’s an opportunity to bond with my students.
We’re going to be on a bus to Chicago for six hours. I’ve got almost two dozen kids going, and some of them are sixth graders who have only been on student council since September. This will really be my chance to get to know their personalities a little better than just during a one-hour council meeting. That makes a difference because when you know them better, they are more willing to engage in activities that I can encourage them to get involved with.
4. It’s also an opportunity for students to bond with each other.
Since we’re a small community, these kids have all pretty much grown up together. But a conference like this teaches them how to communicate and collaborate as a group. It’s team building. And it’s a great way for them to hear other ideas and talk as a group about how they might take those ideas from other schools and implement them in our school.
5. Conferences are opportunities to network with other advisers.
When I’ve attended student council conferences, the advisers get to meet each other and discuss programs and other aspects of how things work at our individual schools. I’m looking forward to that same sort of networking in Chicago. Just like with NHS students, our student council members are very involved with community service projects, so that’s one area where I’m always looking for new and creative ways to engage with our community.
Learn more about the National Student Council Conference and the National Honor Society Conference, co-located in Chicago. Register today!
