Wanting to spend more time with her family, Freshman Studies, psychology teacher and now retired adviser Miriya Julian resigned from her StuCo position at the conclusion of the 2019 school year.

“It was time,” Julian said. “I have a son who has his own activities and things he’s involved in, and I just want to be around more for my son and for my family. It was a good experience, and I always enjoyed being the Student Council adviser. But after nine years, someone else needs to have all the fun.”

Taking over the newly opened position, precalculus and AP Stats teacher Bryce Wada and biology teacher Christina Bousema have taken on the job as co-advisers.

“As we’re still learning the ins and outs of Student Council, we’re keeping most things the same, but the main changes are that there’s two of us now,” Bousema said. “We’re aspiring to be like Julian.”

After three years with Julian as her adviser, senior Briana Boothe is excited about the change and hopes the new advisers will bring enthusiasm and school spirit to the student body. 

“It’s definitely different, but I think this year will be good,” senior Briana Boothe said. “Mr. Wada and Ms. Bousema have learned their way around pretty quick. Everyone’s been really involved this year and I just hope that they encourage everyone to stay involved and keep pushing our Student Council to excel.”

Although Julian has retired from the role, she has still been helping the new advisers adjust to their positions. 

“Julian’s been really helpful,” Wada said. “Anytime we have a question about anything, like planning, she’s always quick to respond and answer our questions. It’s really nice to have her help us out so much, especially since she responds so quickly and knows so much about the position.”

Despite many issues faced, such as controlling a large group, Wada and Bousema, with the help of StuCo, hope that they can implement new events and plans which will one day come into play for the entire student body. 

“It’s all a brand new experience and more work than I expected, but that’s how I felt when I first became a teacher, so it’s similar to being a first-year teacher,” Wada said. “I’m hoping the students begin to keep each other in check, because it’s hard taking on a class of 50 people and dividing them where they can all work and succeed.  In the future, we want to do more with program areas. Things such as ‘program pride’ is a possibility. We have a lot of potential ideas, but we’re not sharing them just yet. We’ll see if new events play out more, and I’m sure more ideas will be brought up in our future class meetings.”