The job of the Catlin Gabel Student Association is to represent the students of Catlin and give them a voice. However, sometimes it seems no one knows what they’re planning for the community until it happens. So what have they been up to at the start of this school year?
After attending one of the meetings during the D day co-curricular period, a few things became clear.
One, the members of our student government are all smart people. President Gabri Chodosh ’13 is capably heading up a council that this year includes Vice President Tucker Gordon ’13, Secretary Rachel Spiegel ’13, Treasurer Chris Park ’14, Inclusivity Coordinator Maggie Boyd ’13, and two co-presidents from every class.
Second, they do a good job of recognizing the wishes of the students, as well as understanding and taking into account the faculty and staff that are involved in any issue.
The CGSA discusses the latest issues in the Upper School. (Photo: Simon McMurchie)
Take, for instance, the idea to bring back pizza days, a student favorite from a few years ago. On the surface it seems like a pretty simple task, where once every week or seven-day cycle we would get pizza from a nearby parlor, and offer it during lunch as an entrée option.
The CGSA liked the idea, but knew there would be obstacles to consider and overcome before it became a reality.
For this particular issue, they discussed payment options, both by the students and the school. Someone brought up that Hen needed to be involved, as he is the Food Services Director, a position that would need to have some input on pizza days. There was also the fact that pizza days ended years ago due to opposition that was likely to come up again.
As the year goes on, many more issues, both bigger and smaller than pizza, will arise, and the CGSA will meet them with the same thorough deliberations and considerations. The elected officials also welcome outside input: during all meetings, non-member students are allowed input as well, though they are non-voting participants.
Don’t be afraid to go to a meeting yourself. The CGSA is friendly, easy-going, and pretty functional. So even if you don’t know exactly what they’re doing, just try to trust that they do.
For weekly coverage of the CGSA’s activities, check out articles written by Rachel Spiegel. Find the latest meeting minutes below.
This Week in the CGSA: 10/01/12
This week in the CGSA, we discussed the student concerns brought up at the “town meeting” during the last assembly.
We focused on a wide variety of topics, which included issues both within and outside of the Upper School. We talked about the middle school sharing break with us, parents parking in the gravel and carpool lots, the use of the library during flex and co-cu time, and also problems surrounding assigned carpool spots.
In the academic realm, we discussed seniors having class during am flex on E days, homework policy concerns, independent art credits, computer science credits, and the issue of the homework free weekend scheduled right before many senior midterms.
For almost every one of these issues, a CGSA member has been assigned to start talking to teachers and faculty about how we can resolve the problem.
Aside from the concerns brought up at the “town meeting”, we also discussed questions surrounding the upcoming C&C lunch, because currently C&C’s are required to stay on campus. Lastly, the CGSA is also trying to plan a way for pizza to be served on every E day, so that students can eat their lunch at the beginning of their free time. And who wouldn’t want pizza?!
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