The Big Change: Story Core

Target Audience: This story is intended for students, staff, and other vested members of our

community to both reflect and keep a record of this school year for forward-thinking purposes.

Story Core Element Digital Story

Heroes Problem or Challenge Ever since I started working at my school,

there was a huge issue regarding student
apathy due to a feeling that they didn’t have a
voice or a way to empower themselves, even
though there was a leadership class available
to them. Three days before the end of the
school year, my school asked me to leave my
position as an English teacher in order to
revitalize the leadership program at the
school. This was a huge task because there are
almost no standards or resources for creating
a leadership program. I was given a limited
seed budget of $900 to essentially create a
brand-new program with no expert advice.

Heroes Transformation I used previous student experiences with me

in order to persuade many of the students to
join me on the journey of revitalizing the
program. We started the year with a
successful freshman orientation. Then, we had
to quickly pivot into our homecoming week
due to only having three weeks of planning
and $900. We used the seed money in order to
buy the homecoming crowns and

Heroes Resolution We have over 30 students who will be

interviewed to join the leadership program in
the spring. We are also planning three major
events during the winter season that have a lot
of positive traction around them. Students are
starting to think about what we can do to have
a big, fun end of the year bash. Additionally,
they are starting to think about what charity
event they can sponsor for the spring.
 The Big Change: Script

Part 1: The Problem

Three days before the end of the school year, my long-time evaluating administrator calls

me into his office. The school had a major problem: there was no one to teach next years

leadership class, and no students were running for student council positions. Because of the

positive relationship I have with my students, combined with my experience as the freshman

class sponsor, the principals came forward and asked if I would consider taking over the

leadership classes and restarting the program. I did not say that I would take the position initially

mainly because I knew what I was walking into. In the short audio below, one of my student

council students named Ruben describes what it was like last year, and he’s pretty spot-on. We

had a few assemblies and some posters were made, but that was it. Considering that our school

has a huge attendance problem, the general lack of school events and school spirit was causing

all of the problems that have existed in our school for a long time to become increasingly

exacerbated. If I took this position, I’d be in for a long a crazy ride. However, I could actually

help the students make meaningful changes that give them fulfillment and pride.

Two days later, I decided to take the position. Almost immediately, I had to start working

towards a functioning program.

Part 2: Building a Baseline

The first issue that I ran across when asking the old sponsor about the program was

recruitment. We only had eight guaranteed student council members for the 2023-2024 school

year when we needed 35 to functionally work. So, on the last day of school, I started making
cold calls to students that I knew were reliable or had previous experience with student council.

Initially, students were uninterested in joining the leadership program until I promised them that

I would be working overtime as the new leadership teacher to improve outcomes for the next

school year. Whenever students heard that I would be involved, I was able to form a student

council.

The next thing that I did was start making cold calls to determine the class sponsor

situation. In the span of one day, I was able to make a complete sponsor team. I created a

GroupMe for all leadership members to join, and then sent them a large email detailing the theme

and the timeline for our first event: 9th grade orientation. The theme would be “Surfing Into

CHHS,” and the expectation was that all of student council would come together to create and

execute a successful orientation. Two weeks before school started, myself and the students had

meetings with administration to implement an orientation event. The week before school started,

myself and my students were at school well into the night decorating hallways and designing

activities. And… all that work paid off! The first student council event went surprisingly well,

with the student council having fun talking to, leading, and generally befriending the new

students!

Part 3: Homecoming!

Almost immediately after the success of orientation, we had to start working on

homecoming. Last year, homecoming only had an assembly. Homecoming king and queen were

crowned at the assembly in t-shirts and jeans with little pomp or circumstance. My principal and

I agreed that homecoming week should be more of a celebration, so my students and I got to

work.
 We only had $900 in seed money for the event. $700 was going towards making

homecoming shirts, and the ther $200 went towards buying the crowns and sashes for

homecoming. So, I had to write a DonorsChoose in order to cover all of the supplies to make a

homecoming dance. I called up food trucks to see if they could come to the school for a

fundraising event, and then the students got to work on the hallways. The students designed the

t-shirts and the pep assembly while I spent my time working on the homecoming court procedure

and the school dance, whose theme was “Neon Night.” The students were initially apprehensive

about doing an event of this caliber, but after everything was said and done, everyone felt like the

week was a lot of fun! The students who went to the homecoming dance even came up to myself

and various student council members asking when we were going to plan another dance. I felt

really proud of my students during this time because I knew that I was asking a lot of them in a

short time period. They weren’t used to the level of work that we were doing, but the students

felt like they were capable of doing a lot of good for the school after the event.

Part 4: District Conference and Charity Events

My school had not been to any Oklahoma Association of Student Councils conferences in

over five years. That was a huge problem because these conferences are where school leadership

votes on bylaws and develops connections between the other schools. My students were initially

scared to go because many of the other schools represented in the conference were of a higher

socio-economic status and represented a completely different racial demographics. However, my

students found that the other student groups were respectful, if not a bit loud. The theming of the

district conference gave my students ideas on how we can improve our decorations for the spring

semester.
 Two weeks later, we were in the midst of the first ever Capitol Hill High School Pink

Week. All money raised during the event went to the Breast Cancer Survivors of Oklahoma. My

students designed a custom Pink Week shirt, sold pink lemonades, and did a big donation run.

For every $250 that we raised, a principal had to do a dare! My students had a goal to raise

$1,000 for their charity, and they ended up raising $1,185! This was especially impressive since

we only had four days to raise the money!

After Pink Week, we did a small halloween spirit day with the intention of spending our

time working on our big winter plans. However, one of our students at the school traigically lost

everything in a house fire, leaving his family homeless. My students and I agreed that we had to

do something. So, we came together and did a big bake sale, with all proceeds going to this

students family. We also started collecting donations amongst students and faculty. By the end of

the week, we raised $854 for the family, and we gave them five bags of clothing and blankets.

My students and I had three days to put this event together, and we were able to pull together a

successful last-minute event that did almost as well as Pink Week!

Part 5: Epilogue: Where We’re Going!

Right now, my leadership students are working on three major events for the holiday

season. The first event is the 47th Lee Christmas Party at Lee Elementary in Oklahoma City. My

students are giving first and second graders a gift, helping them with arts and crafts, and are

setting up and tearing down the entire party with a variety of other clubs. The second event is the

first ever winter formal at the school! All of the students at the school are excited, and theres

been a lot of talk about students improving their grades so that they can go to the formal. The

third event is the winter homecoming in January. One of my students has been hard at work
designing the t-shirt, and the theme will be “Breaking Through the Ice.” Right now, student

outlook is positive regarding where we’re going with the leadership program.

The Big Change Story Table

Story Chapter Images Script

Title The Big Change

Part 1: The Problem Rubens Testimony: Three days before the end of
https://drive.google.com/file/
d/1xAkE05UjCUZ1rM4ZVC the school year, my long-time
Dk1mj4wUbRrIiq/view
evaluating administrator calls

me into his office. The school

had a major problem: there

was no one to teach next

years leadership class, and no

students were running for

student council positions.

Because of the positive

relationship I have with my

students, combined with my

experience as the freshman

class sponsor, the principals

came forward and asked if I

would consider taking over

the leadership classes and

restarting the program. I did

not say that I would take the

position initially mainly

because I knew what I was

walking into. In the short

audio below, one of my

student council students

named Ruben describes what

it was like last year, and he’s

pretty spot-on. We had a few

assemblies and some posters

were made, but that was it.

Considering that our school

 has a huge attendance

problem, the general lack of

school events and school

spirit was causing all of the

problems that have existed in

our school for a long time to

become increasingly

exacerbated. If I took this

position, I’d be in for a long a

crazy ride. However, I could

actually help the students

make meaningful changes

that give them fulfillment and

pride.

Two days later, I

decided to take the position.

Almost immediately, I had to

start working towards a

functioning program.

Part 2: Building a Baseline Image Carousel: The first issue that I ran

across when asking the old

sponsor about the program

 was recruitment. We only had

eight guaranteed student

council members for the

2023-2024 school year when

we needed 35 to functionally

work. So, on the last day of

school, I started making cold

Decorating these hallways, calls to students that I knew

one surfboard at a time!
were reliable or had previous

experience with student

council. Initially, students

were uninterested in joining

the leadership program until I

promised them that I would

be working overtime as the

new leadership teacher to

STUCO Hard at Work!
improve outcomes for the

next school year. Whenever

students heard that I would be

involved, I was able to form a

student council.
A little break from a hard day
at orientation The next thing that I

did was start making cold

calls to determine the class

sponsor situation. In the span

of one day, I was able to

make a complete sponsor

team. I created a GroupMe

for all leadership members to

join, and then sent them a

large email detailing the

theme and the timeline for

our first event: 9th grade

orientation. The theme would

be “Surfing Into CHHS,” and

the expectation was that all of

student council would come

together to create and execute

a successful orientation. Two

weeks before school started,

myself and the students had

meetings with administration

to implement an orientation

event. The week before

school started, myself and my

students were at school well

 into the night decorating

hallways and designing

activities. And… all that

work paid off! The first

student council event went

surprisingly well, with the

student council having fun

talking to, leading, and

generally befriending the new

students!

Part 3: Homecoming! Image Carousel: Almost immediately after the

success of orientation, we had

to start working on

homecoming. Last year,

homecoming only had an

assembly. Homecoming king

The t-shirt design, courtesy of and queen were crowned at

the student council president
the assembly in t-shirts and

jeans with little pomp or

circumstance. My principal

and I agreed that

homecoming week should be

 more of a celebration, so my

students and I got to work.

We only had $900 in seed

money for the event. $700

was going towards making

homecoming shirts, and the

A full roster of events for the
best students around! ther $200 went towards

buying the crowns and sashes

for homecoming. So, I had to

write a DonorsChoose in

order to cover all of the

Students in line for the ice
cream truck supplies to make a

homecoming dance. I called

up food trucks to see if they

could come to the school for a

fundraising event, and then

the students got to work on

the hallways. The students

designed the t-shirts and the

Setting up the stands for
pep assembly while I spent
Homecoming
my time working on the

homecoming court procedure

and the school dance, whose

 theme was “Neon Night.”

The students were initially

apprehensive about doing an

event of this caliber, but after

everything was said and done,

everyone felt like the week

was a lot of fun! The students

Our gorgeous homecoming
court! who went to the homecoming

dance even came up to myself

and various student council

members asking when we

were going to plan another

dance. I felt really proud of

my students during this time

because I knew that I was

Dancing the night away! asking a lot of them in a short

time period. They weren’t

used to the level of work that

we were doing, but the

students felt like they were

capable of doing a lot of good

for the school after the event.

Part 4: District Conference My school had not been to
and Charity Events
any Oklahoma Association of

Student Councils conferences

in over five years. That was a

My students at the district huge problem because these

conference!
NOTE: Photo Embedded into conferences are where school
the paragraph
leadership votes on bylaws

and develops connections

between the other schools.

My students were initially

scared to go because many of

the other schools represented

in the conference were of a

higher socio-economic status

and represented a completely

different racial demographics.

However, my students found

that the other student groups

were respectful, if not a bit

loud. The theming of the

district conference gave my

students ideas on how we can

 improve our decorations for

the spring semester.

Part 4: District Conference Embedded Image Carousel Two weeks later, we were in
and Charity Events
the midst of the first ever

Capitol Hill High School Pink

Week. All money raised

during the event went to the

Breast Cancer Survivors of

The pink week shirt design, Oklahoma. My students

made by the students
designed a custom Pink Week

shirt, sold pink lemonades,

and did a big donation run.

For every $250 that we

raised, a principal had to do a

dare! My students had a goal

to raise $1,000 for their

Four days of spirit! charity, and they ended up

raising $1,185! This was

especially impressive since

we only had four days to raise

the money!
 Selling pink lemonades and
t-shirts

Students taking turns taping

the vice principal to the wall

Part 4: District Conference Image embedded into the After Pink Week, we did a
and Charity Events paragraph:
small halloween spirit day

with the intention of spending

our time working on our big

winter plans. However, one of

our students at the school

 tragically lost everything in a

house fire, leaving his family

homeless. My students and I

agreed that we had to do

something. So, we came

together and did a big bake

sale, with all proceeds going

Cake pops and cookies and to this students family. We

hot cocoa, oh my!
also started collecting

donations amongst students

and faculty. By the end of the

week, we raised $854 for the

family, and we gave them five

bags of clothing and blankets.

My students and I had three

days to put this event

together, and we were able to

pull together a successful

last-minute event that did

almost as well as Pink Week!

Part 5: Epilogue: Where Images embedded into Right now, my leadership

We’re Going! paragraph:
students are working on three
 major events for the holiday

season. The first event is the

47th Lee Christmas Party at

Lee Elementary in Oklahoma

City. My students are giving

first and second graders a gift,

helping them with arts and

Bagging up all of the toys for crafts, and are setting up and
Lee Elementary students
tearing down the entire party

with a variety of other clubs.

The second event is the first

ever winter formal at the

school! All of the students at

the school are excited, and

Our charity event t-shirt for
December! theres been a lot of talk about

students improving their

grades so that they can go to

the formal. The third event is

the winter homecoming in

January. One of my students

has been hard at work

designing the t-shirt, and the

theme will be “Breaking

Through the Ice.” Right now,

student outlook is positive

regarding where we’re going

with the leadership program.