By Jamari Saint Cyr
The Inter-Club Council is a club where schoolwide club leaders meet once a month to discuss issues that affect the school as a whole. We sat down with the Mrs. Ramirez who leads the Inter-Club Council and she elaborated more about what things the club covers in their meetings. “Sometimes I think it’s easy for us just to stay in our own little bubble and just look at life through our lenses and, you know, our experiences,” says Mrs. Ramirez, “And the purpose of the Inter club council is for us to give a diverse group of students an opportunity to look at our school, to look at the issues affecting our school, and to look at those issues as opportunities for us to all unite together as leaders, school leaders, and look at the world with a different lense in order to do
that.”
The Inter-Club Council at Apopka High focuses primarily on working together closely with students and with each of their club leaders, as well as on what issues they could work together to fix. “I, as an administrator, I look at the world through my lens and it’s difficult sometimes to jump into the lens of a student, and an AP
student, and a student in standard classes, and so the Inter-Club Council gives me an opportunity to see life through different lenses and then act based off of that,” Mrs. Ramirez shared.
“So for example, last week we sat at a table with the Inter-Club Council, myself and some of the leaders, and we discussed things that they see as issues. And some of it would range from not shutting the gates so early in the student parking lot to the soap dispensers in the bathrooms, the things like that. Another student brought up..it was funny because I put a question out there like you know, ‘What are some things?’ and at first, it was very awkward and quiet. And then all of a sudden the list just kind of came in. And it was kind of cool because we got to look at things as the problems that they are, and they are issues there are definitely issues. But then as an Inter-Club Council we can come together and problem solve and troubleshoot how we as club leaders [can fix these issues]. So that’s why I feel like, with Apopka High school, the Inter-Club Council really sees these issues that are affecting Apopka High students, and they look at ways to support that.”
The club focuses primarily on working together as one collaborative group to represent a variety of areas to come together and look at Apopka High school through that shared lense. “We are action based, and we ensure that we can work together to represent our clubs and ensure that students know that they are supported with us and by us,” Mrs. Ramirez commented.
During our interview, Mrs. Ramirez teased a possible upcoming project to look out for coming from the club. “Over the holidays we intend to unofficially wear our Apopka colors and go to do something,” is what Mrs. Ramirez told us. “Different clubs have been bringing up different ideas like they want to visit a nursing home as a group. Another group mentioned that we would like to possibly host some type of unofficial meal, but basically have an open site for people in the community that may not have somewhere to go, where we serve cookies and hot chocolate, something like that. They just see the issues and they create opportunities, and then I try to put supports in place to make sure those opportunities happen.”
Lastly, to conclude our interview discussing the council, we asked if Mrs. Ramirez could share with us what she loved most about the club overall and what the Inter-Club Council meant most to her. “Last week when we met with the Inter-Club Council, I personally was so invigorated with the conversations and the outlooks and the perspectives that I never would have imagined, so that’s like what my passion is,” said Mrs. Ramirez. “I think that we can learn so much from each other and we can do so much with each other, so that’s kind of everything I do with the Inter-Club Council. And again, as you’re interviewing me on this, there is so much room to do so much more. But it all comes down to you know, what do you bring to the table that I do not, and what can I learn from you, and after I learn from you what can we do together to empower others to learn those lessons too. That’s kind of where my conviction for this club comes from.”
Through the Inter-Club Council, Mrs. Ramirez hopes to shine light on many of the issues that occur on our school campus, as well as making sure to keep the wellbeing of students at a high priority.