Samantha Hill and Giselle Schneider take on the role of SCA co-sponsors, bringing new ideas and changes to the program

With every new school year comes an abundance of change. This year, one of the biggest changes at Potomac Falls was Giselle Schneider stepping up to take over the role of SCA co-sponsor, previously held by Lexi Swinimer. Last year, Samantha Hill participated in the leadership program as co-sponsor to Swinimer. Now, Hill and Schneider are directing the program.

Under their direction, the SCA program has reevaluated how to run the class. One of the most prominent examples of this is the new roles of students in the class. Previously, SCA was a class that consisted only of the elected officers. Last year, the program transitioned to having SCA officers and about a dozen members of the Panther Leadership Council (PLC), which at that point, was a new group of students enrolled in the leadership course.

This year, one of the major changes is dissolving the PLC – now, everyone in the class is SCA, whether they are an elected officer or not.

“Even though they weren’t elected, the students are part of SCA; we’re not giving them any special title. They’re SCA; we’re SCA. Last year it was SCA and PLC; this year it’s SCA and SCA. We’re one group with all the same responsibilities,” said SCA Treasurer Alex Basil. Students on SCA have responded well to the change; this new approach allows for more inclusiveness and a safer space for students to share their ideas. Everyone is on an equal playing field.

“Compared to last year, it’s very different. This year, we’re pretty much all the same. Nobody’s higher than the other; we may take leadership roles in different events, but say an SCA officer or [a non-officer] want to take on an event, they can work together, and it’s not going to be like the officer has to be higher than the other person. They’re both working on the same event and both of their opinions matter,” said SCA Secretary Adrienne Yeh.

Keeping with the theme of inclusion, one of SCA’s main goals is to try and get the whole student body more involved in student council decisions. “We are trying to get a larger group of the student population involved and happy to be at Potomac Falls, get their ideas, start implementing them, and make sure we’re more inclusive of every type of student here,” said Hill.

For Hill, student input is a priority. “She knows that the students know more about the students than she does, so she always asks for our opinions first before doing anything,” said SCA member Audrey Busbee.

The SCA class holds regular meetings where student council members are free to share their ideas or take lead on projects. Hill has also increased communication between the SCA officers and class officers in an effort to reach as many students as possible.

SCA feels that changes at Potomac Falls are sometimes met with opposition from a student body who is attached to their traditions. Many students were confused and upset when it was announced that there would be no back to school pep rally the first week of school. However, the SCA was concerned about having too few people and not enough time to pull off a respectable pep rally.

“It is school tradition to have a pep rally on the first Friday of school, but when you weigh the benefits and the costs of doing that so quickly with minimal planning and limited resources and time, the pep rally wouldn’t have been our greatest effort, and it would have shown. We didn’t want to leave students with a bad first impression of pep rallies,” said SCA member Kimberly Snyder.

Other new projects that the SCA has implemented have been Battle of Sterling and Music Mondays. Battle of Sterling was met with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement from the student body, eager to show off their school spirit against their biggest rival, Dominion. SCA t-shirt sales for the event were a success, and people were lined up to buy tickets to the Battle of Sterling game starting Thursday and Friday morning in the school store. Music Mondays have hit a few obstacles, but SCA is trying to improve the idea to make it more fun for the whole student body.

Overall, SCA is still the same program that it always has been – just with a few new twists. “We’re still doing the same things, just advertising them different and making sure if there are new ideas, we’re implementing them first,” said Hill.