Student Council Association

George Mason High School

The Student Council Association is truly the government of the students of George Mason High School. It has many responsibilities and performs many functions, from welcoming new students to presenting needs to the administration and school board.

To define the responsibilities of the SCA, and to allow for their execution, there are two fundamental documents to which the SCA refers: The SCA Constitution, and the SCA Operating Procedure.

The SCA Constitution: The SCA Constitution contains formal guidelines as the responsibilities, membership, structure, and functions of the SCA. This constitition was written and ratified during the administration of Chris Yates in 1994. It totally revolutionized the way in which student government works at George Mason by making the Student Council Association different from the Class Governments. It also created the systems of committees that is in place today. It has never been amended, although there has been some discussion that indicates changes are needed.

The 1998-1999 SCA Operating Procedure: The SCA Operating Procedure contains detailed, specific guidlines for how the SCA will function on a day-to-day basis during the 1998-1999 school year. This Operating Procedure was written and introduced during the administration of Seth Johnston in September, 1998. It was created to increase the efficiency of an SCA that had included TA Representatives as regular members, rather than advisors. Thus, the 1998-1999 school year was the first in which an Operating Procedure was introduced. In the later years, it may become standard for the SCA leadership to codify their own operating procedure.

Of course, because the Student Council Association acts as the voice of the Student Body, it also produces many documents for both students and community sources as well. The following are two examples of the kind of material that the Student Council Association produces: the "Strengths and Weaknesses of George Mason", and the 1998 Homecoming Week activities bulletin.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of George Mason: This document was compiled at the SCA's annual overnight retreat at the beginning of the year. While this document was originally made to show where the student government needed to focus its energies, it was made available to the Principal, the Superintendent, and other sources in the community because it expresses the voice of the students.

The 1998 Homecoming Week Activites Bulletin: One of the most challenging responsibilities of the SCA is to organize virtually all of the activities associated with Spirit Week and Homecoming. Because many activities take place, and many competitions are judged, this document was made available to every student to ensure that everyone knew how to have a good time.

The SCA is working on several current projects. To obtain the most recent information, contact any SCA member or view the School Calandar.