The Student Council sets the Blue House Holiday party into motion, representing a method for elementary schoolers to become involved with their eventual high school. The holiday party will take place in the Cafeteria on Dec. 8, allowing young students to celebrate the approaching holidays while gaining valuable experience, according to Lisa Scanlan, the primary assistant staff leader of Student Council.

“Our blue house holiday party is a long-standing tradition here at South. We traditionally invite any kids from grades K-3 from any of the blue house elementaries, which would be the schools that feed into our two middle schools, Aux Sable and Drauden,” lead student council staff member, Samantha Scanlan, said. This sort of experience is geared toward the children’s enjoyment of the event, weaving it into a memorable experience with the school. 

According to Sam Scanlan, they’re able to come in and participate in activities that have a winter-themed basis–such as face painting–for them to interact and attain information from the student helpers in the Student Council.

“Our student council kids lead the activities, and it just gives our families and the communities the chance to just come into South, [and] have some fun,” Sam Scanlan said. Parental figures and guardians are also given an opportunity to interact with the school that their child will end up attending later along the line.

“We haven’t had many issues [with] young children being unescorted. The families are really good at working with their schools, and our high school helpers are awesome at jumping in and having fun with the younger children, and it’s never really had any negatives; it’s always been a positive,” Lisa Scanlan said. As of recently, there’s been a minimal amount of struggle in the process of setting the event up as well as efficiently managing it.

According to Jada Tyse, a student council class president candidate, preparing for the event was a seamless process of determining who’s assigned to what activities, but the kids coming to visit were what brought the vitality. As the kids come in, they can fuel their creative minds and express that with the games provided, as well as gain a sense of familiarity with the building.

“I hope to see a lot of future students at Plainfield South because this is kind of an experience for people [whose] oldest kid is probably [in] third grade. They have no experience with this building, and that’s what this party is about. They can see the kind of community we built here,” Tyse said. 

The children exposed to student council helpers who exhibit role-model behavior may be encouraged to reflect this within themselves, taking on leadership roles that may benefit their eventual high school experience.

“I work with kids, so I’ve been around kids a lot. Seeing them at school is pretty fun, and kids always have something interesting to say. It’s a super fun event, and it’s giving back to the community, so I really like it,” said Nancy Ogunnaike. 

Lisa Scanlan said their experience in the program makes the process pretty efficient and fun to run. 

“We’ve done it so much, so we pretty much just rotate new [and old] ideas around every year, [it takes] a few hours,” Lisa Scanlan said.