Can Student Government be productive remotely? Will the challenges of COVID-19 make it impossible for Student Government to get anything done? Leaders of the Parker Student Government were thinking of those questions as they prepared for a semester that seemed impossible but proved to be quite prolific.

“This year was incredibly daunting,” Student Government President and senior Carter Wagner said, referring to the challenges of doing Student Government online because of the coronavirus, “The fact that we were even able to pass anything, I think was far more than I could even have hoped for, that like we got something done.” While acknowledging his bias, Wagner deemed it one of “the most productive years” that Parker Student Government has had since he has been at Parker.

One of Wagner’s main points in his campaign platform was a strengthened focus on external proposals as opposed to internal proposals that make change within student government. Wagner believes that although internal proposals are productive, external proposals fulfil the purpose of Student Government. “This year the name of the game has been external proposals, “ Wagner said.

“I really saw a pattern of students identifying problems, brainstorming solutions, calling upon each other to support them, incorporating different ideas in a meaningful way,” Upper School history teacher and Student Government faculty sponsor Jeanne Barr said.

Senior Month, also known as May Month, was one of the first things discussed this past semester in Student Government. It is a program, proposed last school year, in which seniors find internships or projects to work on instead of being in school for the month of May. The conversations revolved around whether or not it should happen this year or later, considering the factors of the senior class’s opinions and the coronavirus.

Wagner co-authored the Senior Month proposal with Student Government Executive Advisor and senior Ava Ori. According to Wagner, the proposal presented the Student Body’s perspective on Senior Month which they opposed if high school would be on campus by then. The proposal was passed in October with over 90% approval.

“It was an awesome way to start the year from the point of view of engaging, important, meaningful, purposeful debate,” Barr said. “It was a real issue.” Barr commended Ori’s infographics that were very helpful in understanding how the students felt about Senior Month.

There has not been very much communication from the Administration regarding plans for Senior Month this May. Wagner expected that if the current hybrid schedule remains in use, Senior Month was likely to occur because students agreed that they would rather do Senior Month than remote learning or a mostly remote schedule. The Student Body can expect more Senior Month negotiation as May gets closer.

The Homework Consistency Rules resolution, renamed the Academic Consistency Rules Resolution, was created by junior Emma Manley and sophomore Jack Kahan and was presented and passed in November. The resolution aimed to create regulations regarding Zoom meetings and assignments and communicate things that teachers could do to help students as they adapt to remote learning.

“I think that was like the meat and potatoes, nuts and bolts, of how are we going to do this,” Barr said. After being passed in Student Government, the resolution was sent to the entire faculty, several of whom responded with thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

The Feminine Hygiene Proposal aimed to make quality feminine hygiene products easily accessible to all high school students. Senior Grace Conrad had been trying to get the proposal passed for multiple years, and it finally got the necessary “traction,” according to Barr.

The Feminine Hygiene Proposal was presented after Participatory Budgeting had voted to purchase a condom bowl which sparked discussions comparing the two. “There was a moment when it was like competition,” Barr said. “Of course, the reality is we need both.” 

Wagner suspected that neither the new feminine hygiene system nor the condom bowl would be implemented during hybrid learning due to the coronavirus restrictions. Student Government Treasurer and senior Alex Schapiro said he was hoping the condom bowl would be available during hybrid learning but finds it unlikely.

“I think the money is going in valuable places,” editor of “The Student Voice” and sophomore Rania Jones said about Participatory Budgeting, “It’s interesting how some of the money was allocated to kind of more online school things, then some things were spent on in-person things, so it will be interesting to see how that kind of translates when we go back in-person.”

Soon after the new hybrid learning schedule was released, freshmen Arjun Kalra and Benjamin Kagan got to work on the Hybrid Schedule Resolution. They made the resolution hoping to share the opinions and concerns of the student body.

Over the course of a week, the resolution was written, edited, presented to the Cabinet, re-edited, discussed in a special Senate session, re-edited, and finally discussed and passed in the Plenary. “There was a coalition of kids who saw the new schedule had real issues with it, and lots of questions and felt like they hadn’t been addressed,” Barr said, “and that resolution demanded, you know, that attention be paid to building that relationship with students.”

Wagner emphasized that much of the students’ frustration with the schedule was about insufficient and confusing communication. To try and remedy the communication problem, Student Government not only passed a resolution but also held a Town Hall Senate session with Middle and Upper School Director of Studies Sven Carlsson. They also held a Town Hall in the Plenary with Head of Upper School Justin Brandon and School Nurse Anne Nelson.

“I’m not sure how effective it will be in the future,” freshman Cate O’Connor said about the Hybrid Schedule Resolution, “but it was a good way to be productive and try to make change.”

Senate head and junior Eli Moog was proud of the Senate’s strong attendance this semester. “I think at our last Senate of the year, we had like 80 people, which is insane, and it’s like twice as much as we’re getting normally,” Moog said, “But also, that’s like more than we get in-person.”

Earlier this semester, the Senate held a meeting to discuss the online gym classes and as a result of that meeting, the program was changed. Moog noted that surveys showed that 90% of students did not like the way gym class functioned. “I think that people actually do want to work out,” Moog said, “They just don’t want to have to do the hour where you like doing fake push ups on the Zoom.”

Another significant Senate this semester was the town hall meeting with Carlsson about the new hybrid learning schedule. Moog thought that everyone who attended came away from it “more informed.”

Every week Jones lays out “The Student Voice”. She includes information about the upcoming Plenary, a Senate recap based on Student Government Secretary and sophomore Samantha Graines’ minutes, a bulletin, and quotes from students.

“Rania is bringing a really high quality ‘Student Voice’ to the Student Body,” Barr said, “It’s so packed with information, each issue.” Jones said she has introduced quotes to “The Student Voice” because of the different needs of an online “Student Voice” and to further spread the voice of the students.

The 360 Review Council, led by senior Bodie Florsheim was newly instated this semester. Members of the 360 Review Council have been meeting to discuss how Student Government can be improved, and Florsheim meets with Cabinet members to give feedback. There is an upcoming proposal to put the 360 review board into the Constitution.

A major challenge this semester has been conducting Student Government and, specifically, Plenary over Zoom. Wagner outlined a variety of issues including breakout room problems and his own wifi crashing. However, the chat feature of Zoom proved to be very helpful, “Using chat is, I think, the greatest revolution to planner that plenaries had in maybe 10 years, I wouldn’t know past four,” Wagner said.

Small groups meetings have continued online with one happening in the first semester. “It was a good way to try to participate and we were able to talk to people from our grade and the grades above and get their opinions on what was happening,” O’Connor said. 

Every week on Friday, Brandon has a meeting with the Senate Heads. Barr believes that those meetings have cultivated a good relationship that has benefitted Student Government.  “Because we’re online, Mr. Brandon only really interacts with us and Upper School advisory,” Moog said, “and so we have a platform to share ideas.” He also noted that Brandon had been helpful when it came to exploring resolutions that were presented and how they could be executed.

Barr complemented Student Government Leadership this semester, describing them as “utterly competent,” and “amazingly good.” She singled out Wagner and Ori, noting their abilities to listen to many voices and then make decisive action.

O’Connor believes that Student Government had been a “very welcoming space” to freshmen. “Kind of more normal than anything else,” O’Connor said, concluding about her first semester in Student Government, comparing it to other aspects of this unconventional year.