From organizing school-wide events, to helping resolve students grievances, senior Jilianne Nuevo is the voice of the student body. Although involved in a variety of other extracurriculars, she’s been Student Council president since her sophomore year – making an impact through her dedication to continue improving the school and its student involvement.

As Student Council president, she reflects on the effects student council has had on her high school experience as a whole and shares the plans she has in mind for the organization in her final year.

Then and Now

“I went to Harmony Public School,” Nuevo said. “That school is very STEM based and a lot of people were actively involved in extracurriculars.” 

Her time enrolled in Harmony helped her decide to join student council, a decision she would stick with for the rest of her time in high school.

“Back in middle school I didn’t have that much opportunity for leadership [roles] because I came from a pretty small school and it was really competitive. So, when I came here – a public high school, I knew that I wanted to be in a leadership focused club and I joined freshman year, actually,” she said. “Sophomore year I just took a chance and I ran for president, and I got the position.” 

Throughout each year’s election, Nuevo kept her role as student council president by displaying her commitment to the organization.

Though having much experience, there is still room for improvement on her part. “One of the challenges that I think I personally [face] is miscommunication. Communication is really important,” Nuevo shared. “That lack of communication really set us back, especially last year. I wish I could go back in time and redo some of the choices I made in student council so that more people were on the same baseline.” 

Moving forward, she plans on working harder to communicate both benefits and complications to other members.

“Last year with all my [IB] coursework, it was hard for me to find the time to communicate [with] everyone effectively.” She commented. “I’m still in the IB program [and] I’m trying to find that balance.” 

Similar to other students, Nuevo is enrolled in the IB Diploma Programme: a rigorous two-year program available only at Leander High School and Vandegrift High School. 

“Last year we were divided more. This year we’re working all grade levels [together] so there’s more of a support system between grades.” Nuevo explained. “Talking with other student council members is really interesting to see their perspectives, it’s nice to have a student’s perspective when it comes to [school decisions].” 

Unlike the other clubs available at LHS, the council solely focuses on the positive impact they can make on the school and community.

“Senior year now, elections have not happened yet but for president it’s me, Haven Gier or Rania Merchant. One person that I’ve really come to rely on a lot is my vice president, Haven Gier. Whenever I have a thing I need sent out or [something] I need help on, I can just talk to him about it for student council. And my secretary too, Rania Merchant. All three of us have come together as a team.” 

Having a solid team has made a significant difference in preparations for the new school year, their unity and collaboration has gained strong support from other members and has set a positive tone for the school year. On August 22, the student council hosted their first meeting of the year, having more than 100 students across grades interested in the club. 

“Hopefully we still retain as many members as we had in that first meeting [and] we’ll see who’s dedicated. We want as many people to get involved as possible,” Nuevo said. 

In the meeting, officers mentioned their plans for student council this year, especially about their new involvement in TASC. 

“TASC, which is the Texas Association of Student Councils, a competition [for student councils] in Texas. Our project is going to be focused on school related topics and hopefully the impact will spread to the community.” She said, “This year we are trying to focus more on school based efforts.” 

The latest school event they have begun preparations for is homecoming, an event eagerly awaited for by students.  

“Most of the dealings that happen within clubs, organizations, and admin at this school are very closed off. Student council [runs] events for the school and community,” Nuevo said. 

The Student Council plays a crucial role in communicating ideas from the student body to larger scale audiences.

Behind the scenes

While student council is one of the most well known student-led organizations at Leander High School, a lot of the efforts made by student council members have often been overlooked.

“I feel like the biggest misconception is that we only do arts and crafts in student council, which I don’t fully understand because we don’t do arts and crafts that often honestly,” Nuevo said. 

Though Student Council work does involve creating projects that are “aesthetically pleasing” for their audiences, they regularly organize events and plan complex and extensive initiatives.

“My most proud accomplishment would probably be fentanyl awareness, which we did 2 years ago. The planning for that was really in depth, we started planning August – before the school year even started,” She remarked. “We even slept overnight at the school to finish preparations, we planned [it] specifically just to finish preparations [and] everything that needed to be done last minute.” 

Nuevo’s dedication to the organization has been displayed numerous occasions throughout her time as student council president, demonstrating her leadership and her commitment to enhance the school community.

“In Student Council, everyone in your grade votes for [the elections] even if they’re not in student council, so I think that’s one way that we try to make sure that we get everyone’s perspective.” She stated. 

Student Council makes an inclusive approach to ensure that every voice in the school is heard.

As Nuevo looks forward to her final year in the student council, she maintains her belief of continuing to improve the organization to be more inclusive and impactful, believing in the importance of student involvement and collaboration. 

At the end of the day, “Student Council is a fun club and I think more people should be in it.”