Written by Ryan Adams, Akron Elementary School student council co-advisor

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” –John F. Kennedy

Learning and leadership are two key components that Sydnie Reed, co-sponsor of the Akron Elementary School Student Council, and I teach our student council members. Our student council is very active and student driven. Each year, we hold elections and select students in grades 3-5 to represent their peers and assist our school in carrying out various school-wide events.

Events are planned, organized, and ran by our students under the advisement of Ms. Reed and myself. Our fifth-grade students serve as officers. We elect a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, social chairmen, and spirit chairmen. Our officer team oversees meetings and plans all regular meetings. After our council decides on an event, they are in charge of presenting their information to our school principal, Chrissy. Mills, to gain her approval for events. Having the officers meet with Mrs. Mills is a huge part of their leadership development because they must be organized and learn how to communicate effectively, not only with each other, but also with adults.

Student council members also have the opportunity to attend Summer Leadership Camp at Manchester University every summer. This event is put on by the Indiana Association of Student Councils (IASC), which is the governing body of student councils in Indiana. Three of our current officers and one at-large member have already attended Leadership Camp and have brought many necessary skills back to our council, such as team bonding, communication, and event planning. Along with Summer Leadership Camp, we encourage our student council members to attend a Saturday Leadership Workshop every year. Akron Elementary School is planning to host a workshop later this year for IASC.

Additionally, Akron’s student leaders are held to high academic and behavior standards. Students collectively take skills they are taught in the classroom, such as collaborating with one another, and apply them to their leadership roles within student council. It is essential that students can apply both academic and leadership skills so they become successful adults in their chosen careers.

Ms. Reed and I are extremely proud of our student council members and the success they have had the past several years. Many of our past elementary members go on to participate in Tippecanoe Valley Middle School’s student council.  The Akron Elementary School Student Council has been awarded “Honor Council” status by the IASC for the past 20 years, demonstrating that student leadership is a vital part of our school community.

Akron Elementary School Student Council President Gunnar Crispen says it best by stating “Student council has taught me about being a leader and how not to get overwhelmed by problems that are hard.”  At Akron Elementary School, our hope is for all students to learn and value their education while learning how to be effective leaders in our community.

Valley Insight is a recurring monthly article written by administrators on a variety of topics related to education and the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation. Articles will be posted to the district’s website and also shared with the local media.

Akron Elementary School will be partnering with Schwan’s Home Food Services for a Schwan’s Cares fundraiser.  This is an easy way to help our school while getting quality food.  Please see the directions below on how you can help our school.  Contact Deb Miller at Akron Elementary School if you have questions.  574-598-2367. Thank you for helping our school!

There are 3 ways to place a fundraising order:

1. Via Schwan’s Cares. Find your campaign or fundraiser and (1) choose “Buy Now” to purchase an eGift Card (online only; limit 1 per customer, per campaign) OR (2) choose “Shop Now” to place a food order from Schwan’s. You can support at the campaign level or at an individual fundraiser level.
2. By Phone. Place your order via toll free number 1-855-870-7208. Make sure to provide your Campaign ID and/or Fundraiser ID when ordering by phone.
3. Via Schwans.com. During checkout simply type in your Campaign ID and/or Fundraiser ID to contribute to your fundraiser.

When Ordering use the Campaign Code:  34794

Delivery:

For existing Schwan’s customers, you will need to follow one of the 3 ordering steps above to create your fundraising affiliation and have your order contribute to the campaign. Your order will be delivered on your existing scheduled route day.

For new customers, you will choose your delivery date and time during checkout. Form of payment is required when placing fundraising orders, but you can change payment at the door to a preferred method of payment (Check, Cash, EBT, or Credit and Debit Card are accepted). If you are not home during the time of delivery, Schwan’s will leave your items in a protected freezer bag at no cost to you.

Dates:

The fundraiser starts October 2^nd and runs for 45 days.  The school gets 40% back on every purchase during those 45 days.  Then for the next 90 days the school gets 5% back on every purchase. 

Empathy, compassion, geography and writing. Those are some of the lessons first grade teachers at Akron Elementary School hope their students will learn by adopting a classroom in Texas at a school that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey.

Students in Hayley Cooper, Rhonda Jewell and Kayla Rassi’s classrooms are collecting basic school supplies now through October 12^th to send to a third grade classroom at Harmony School of Science in Houston.

“This is the third time in less than three years this particular class has flooded,” said Cooper. “There’s not a whole lot we can do, but every little bit will help.”

Cooper got the idea to collect school supplies for the classroom from a teacher’s blog she follows on social media. The teacher was organizing a community service project in which other teachers across the country could sign up and adopt classrooms in Texas.

“It took a couple of weeks to set up because there were so many teachers wanting to help out,” said Cooper.

Students decorated a collection box for the supplies and a letter explaining the donation drive was sent home to parents. The teachers are asking for pencils, crayons, markers, notebooks, folders, erasers, new or gently-used books of any level, tissues, stickers and other basic classroom items. The students will also write letters of encouragement to send with the supplies.

“We teach our students about kindness and what it means to be kind to others. I just love how the teachers and students are excited to show kindness to complete strangers,” said Chrissy Mills, principal at Akron Elementary School.

Cooper also incorporated geography into her lesson plan by showing students on a map where Texas is and where Hurricane Harvey and hurricanes since have hit. She used a series of elementary-level videos that explained what a hurricane is and how people stay safe during the storm.

“A lot of the kids asked why it happened and if it happened more than once. There were students that were shaken up,” she said.

Jewell recalled a time when she was student teaching at Riddle Elementary School in 1974 and a tornado swept through the Rochester community and surrounding areas. She hopes her students will understand material possessions can be replaced over time and that helping out others when there is a need is important.

“I will never forget how we felt walking into our classrooms and seeing the devastation that had taken place,” said Jewell. “It made a big impression on me when others helped us come together and get back on our feet.  It’s the right thing to do,” she added.

Supplies can be dropped off between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Akron Elementary School located at 202 East Rural Street in Akron.