Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals Serving Middle Level and High School LEADERs Since 1906

Virginia Student Councils Association

About the Virginia Student Councils Association

The Virginia Student Councils Association (VSCA) is a leadership learning organization for student leaders from private and public schools throughout the Commonwealth. VSCA provides learning experiences in leadership and opportunities to practice the citizenship skills necessary for effective participation in our democratic society. VSCA encourages the formation, development, and expansion of student councils in all schools (K-12) in Virginia.

The principal goals of the Virginia Student Councils Association are to:

• instill American ideals, including the development of leadership and citizenship, among the youth of today.
• foster student leadership in a democratic environment.
• assist all student councils in becoming more effective organizations within their school, community, state and nation.
• promote student participation within the school and its community.
• assist student councils and their leadership in focusing on relevant current problems that affect them and encouraging them to seek solutions to those problems.

The VSCA sponsors several training activities statewide throughout the year to promote leadership in schools. VSCA gives both students and advisers the opportunity for training, networking, social interaction, and the transaction of student council business. They represent major efforts to assist student councils throughout Virginia.

What can the VSCA do for advisers?

All student council advisers can benefit from support offered on a statewide level. VSCA is not just a leadership learning organization for students. It offers specialized workshops for advisers during the school year, and at the summer leadership workshops, annual convention, and regional meetings. Information on upcoming events, project ideas, state forms for elections and awards, and calendars of events go to all VSCA-member school advisers in monthly mailings.

What can the VSCA do for Virginia schools?

• Regional Meetings: Regional meetings are designed to provide opportunities for students and advisers to learn effective and responsible leadership skills and exchange ideas. The state is divided into nine regions, and each region has the opportunity to meet and discuss topics and issues pertinent to their region.

• Annual State Student Council Convention: The VSCA Annual Convention is the flagship of all VSCA functions. Nationally known keynote and seminar speakers, exciting seminar topics, multi-media presentations, and a banquet with a video dance party following are just a few of the highlights of the three-day Annual Convention. The convention is designed to bring students and advisers statewide to a forum in which they can learn to become effective leaders, to understand the responsibilities of leadership, to identify specific skills as they pertain to particular council offices, and to practice the democratic process. The elections for state officers and regional representatives/directors are the culminating events of the convention.

• Summer Leadership Workshops: Open to all VSCA member schools, these workshops focus on developing student leadership skills. The workshops are based on the premise that leadership is an acquired ability that can be developed through sound instruction and application. Three workshops are held each July, at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

• Advisers Workshops: Workshops addressing the specific needs of advisers are offered regularly. They provide training for advisers in building student councils and provide ideas, techniques, and motivation for advisers.

• VSCAN Newsletter: The VSCAN is a regular student written publication which features articles by VSCA officers and is used as a forum for student councils around the state to share their activities and ideas.

The VSCA is sponsored by the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals. The VSCA is governed by an advisory board of elected student council leaders and advisers and the VASSP Board of Directors. The VSCA Advisory Board consists of twenty-five (25) voting members: four elected student officers, nine elected student representatives (one from each region), nine elected adult directors (one from each region), two VASSP representatives (appointed by the VASSP Board of Directors), and the Adviser Coordinator elected at large.

The students officers of the VSCA are President, Vice-President/Spirit Coordinator, Secretary, and Publications Coordinator/Historian. The student officers are elected for a term of one year and serve until their successors are elected at the Annual Convention.

In addition to regional and state leadership opportunities, VSCA is an affiliated member of the National Association of Student Councils (NASC). The national association is made up of eight regions. Virginia is one of six states in Region III, along with Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. VSCA provides funds for the state president and an adviser to attend the NASC National Conference each June, and funds for all student officers to attend the National Leadership Camps sponsored by NASC.

Any K-12 school in Virginia, public or private, is eligible to join the VSCA. The membership year runs from September 1 to August 31. For more information and an application for membership, please contact DSL at vassp@vassp.org

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