Central preparing for student councils

Cape Girardeau Central High School student council members pored over meeting schedules and sorted through boxes of Mardi Gras-themed "Unmasking Leadership" T-shirts Monday after school as they prepared to play host to the Missouri Association of Student Councils' state convention.

The local high school on Thursday will greet an estimated 1,200 students and advisers from middle, junior high and high school student councils around the state who are scheduled to attend the three-day convention.

Student delegates will start arriving at the high school about 4 p.m. on Thursday. The convention will open at 7:15 p.m. at the high school gymnasium.

The convention will continue Friday at the school with a keynote address by nationally known motivational speaker Josh Shipp and various leadership breakout sessions.

The approximately 800 students will celebrate with a dinner at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Show Me Center at Southeast Missouri State University, followed by a dance and games at the adjacent Student Recreation Center.

The convention concludes Saturday with a presentation to Special Olympics, the association's official charity.

Planning a state convention is hard work. "It's been wild," said Catherine Moreton, an 18-year-old Central senior who has helped match up host families. "I feel like I could plan a war invasion at this point."

She and other members of the Central student council have been planning for the convention since last summer.

High school teacher and student council adviser Kathy Wright provided quick instructions for student council members as they prepared for the convention. "It is kind of chaotic," she confided.

This marks the 58th annual year's state convention. Central High School also sponsored it in 1982, 1992 and 2002.

Landing the statewide convention brings prestige to the host school, said high school principal Dr. Mike Cowan. Student councils around the state compete at each annual convention for the right to host the next year's convention.

"It is an incredible honor for us," he said.

Typically, the convention alternates from year to year between urban school districts in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, said Cowan.

He's proud of the energetic efforts of his high school's student leaders. "All they are doing is phenomenal," said Cowan.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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