Students meet for SILC and CLC interviews

Interviews for the selected committees took place on May 18 during X-period. The selection process consisted of filling out an online application and then attending the interview.

There are two main committees: Student Intercultural Life Committee (SILC) and Class Leadership Council (CLC). SILC is a committee focused on promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at SPA. Each grade has their own CLC committee. 9th grade has 9CLC, 10th grade has SoCLC, 11th grade has JCLC, and 12th grade has SCLC. Each CLC represents its grade level and works on planning class meetings and activities.

For the SoCLC interview, the current freshman gathered in a room and introduced themselves. They talked about their goals for next year. Two common themes that came out of that discussion were: finding more opportunities for service hours and increasing connectivity in the grade.

On the topic of volunteering, many people stated that they wanted it to constantly be on sophomores’ minds so people wouldn’t leave it for the last moment. They also wanted to get 10th graders more excited and enthusiastic about it.

For connectivity, freshman Nora Mckoy who attended the interview mentioned that there is a little bit of disconnect in the current freshman grade because, “there was COVID so most people only talked to their friends and people you knew,” McKoy said. Therefore, SoCLC wants to plan activities and events where you can mingle with all students to combat the problem.

For the rest of the meeting, the SoCLC candidates brainstormed ideas for next year. JCLC and SCLC also met and discussed similar topics, however, the 9CLC interview has not been held yet. It will be held next year when the current 8th graders become new freshmen. The candidates all had great ideas the CLC’s will surely hit the ground running next year.

SILC also met during that same time. There were about 11 people at the interview, out of which 7 were new candidates. Everyone jumped straight into the discussion.

The first topic was jokes about race. They talked about who gets to make them, when, and the impacts on other people who are not of the same race. After that, an idea that was brought up by Sonia Kharbanda, a freshman candidate, was “getting SILC involved with affinity groups to improve inclusivity or making new spaces if necessary,” Kharbanda said.

Another topic that was brought up as well by Delaney Devine, a junior candidate, was that “there are many different religious backgrounds at SPA, so we should all work on recognizing, respecting, and being aware of that,” Devine said.

The group interviews ended and selection was up to the faculty advisors: Alexis Irish, Naomi Taylor, and Stacy Tepp for SILC, and the specific advisors for the CLC’s.

Everyone who applied was chosen so everyone was very happy, and SILC will be much bigger for the next school year compared to the small, single-digit, group this year.

Even though the selection results aren’t publicly out to the SPA community, the new committees have already met at least one time already and are very eager to start planning for 2023-2024, so look forward to engaging and informative activities and presentations from all of the selected committees next year.