What do you get when you put together 13 students in grades four through six and you add in an energized Notre Dame Sister? You get the best and most active student council in the whole world!
Some schools say that they have a student council, but the Regina Elementary Student Council is a world of shakers and movers who want to improve the school in so many ways and to build spirit wherever they go and in whatever they do.
One of the major activities of student council is to organize, collect and manage the Box Tops for Education program. Box Tops is a national program in which participants can earn 10 cents for each box top from General Mills’ products.
To date this school year, the student council has collected 24,583 box tops with the help of students and families throughout the school. As of Christmas, the council had collected 2,631 box tops. Student Council will be using its money from box tops to purchase chairs that can be used at concerts and other gatherings in the gym.
Student Council also used its money to buy food certificates for the needy at Christmas. Members also like to use their funds for items for the chapel such as an incensor and chalice, and for chapel upkeep. Student Council also uses its money to provide a surprise for teachers during Catholic Schools Week.
Another activity that Student Council coordinates is the pull-tab collection from cans for the Ronald McDonald House of Eastern Iowa. The collection usually consists of a donation of 70-80 pounds per year from Regina. The total pull-tab collection program at the Ronald McDonald House generates around $12,000 per year. The Ronald McDonald House serves as a “home away from home” for up to 31 families every night, all who are going through a difficult and stressful time as their loved ones are at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
The most recent activity of the Regina Elementary Student Council was the celebration of the Epiphany. Student Council members made their own costumes and dressed as the kings of the Orient. They presented gifts of “gold,” “frankincense” and “myrrh.” This group of students enjoys going from class to class to make presentations to each of the rooms on the group’s activities.
