Kowloon hosts student councils from around the state

SAUGUS – Hundreds of students from northeastern Massachusetts descended on Route 1 in Saugus last week for a huge student council conference at Kowloon.Senior Olivia Singer is both president of the Saugus High Student Council and a board member of the Northeastern Massachusetts Association of Student Councils, and said Thursday?s event went “really well.”Singer said she and the other members of the NEMASC board had to arrive bright and early to set everything up for the rest of the students, who came from schools like Dracut, Greater Lowell and Winthrop.?We had speeches for elections for the new NEMASC board, ate a ton of Kowloon and every time we have a conference at Kowloon all of us, which is hundreds and hundreds of students, take a picture in front of the Kowloon which is pretty cool,” said Singer.Singer sad Saugus hasn?t hosted the conference, which is held in the spring and the fall, in more than a year. In the fall it was held at Dracut High School, but Singer said having it at Kowloon is always a popular choice.?I?ve been on the NEMASC board for two years and everyone is always excited to hear it?s at Kowloon,” said Singer. “People love the food at Kowloon, especially when they?re coming from far away towns.”Singer described the conference as a “closing” ceremony for the year, where current graduating members of the NEMASC board say their goodbyes and new members give speeches and are voted in.On Thursday, Singer said the main theme was the Dr. Seuss book ?The Lorax? and all of the students in attendance were given blank shirts that say ?I am? and students had to fill out the rest with a word that best describes them.Singer said her word choice was easy.?I?m a dreamer,” said Singer.Despite the full day of activities, Singer said she was “definitely sad” to have attended her last conference.?I?ve been involved with Student Council and NEMASC since my freshman year,” said Singer. “I?ve gone to two conferences every year so I know a lot of kids. It was definitely a bittersweet moment at Kowloon since it was my last.”Junior Ryan Perry ran for NEMASC president and lost by just a few votes to a student from Winthrop High School.Perry said students running for office will hand out candy and gifts to other students, and then make speeches to win their votes.?Each school gets three votes and they split them up however they want among the candidates,” said Perry. “My speech was based upon Bingo, except I changed it to ?Stuco,? which is short for Student Council.”Perry said the letters stood for “Strategy,” “trust,” “unify,” “courage” and “OMG.”?They were all things that were important to being a leader,” said Perry. “Student Council, since my freshmen year, has just been such a great experience and I learned so much. I wanted to take what I had learned and pass it on to the students coming up.”Despite not being named president, Perry said the event was “a lot of fun.”?It?s pretty much crazy,” said Perry. “There?s screaming, yelling, chanting. We have energizers that people like to have fun doing.”Perry said energizers are chants or phrases students repeat over and over while stomping and clapping.?It?s pretty much a bunch of yelling and moving, but everyone has fun doing them,” said Perry.Perry said the conference was important for leadership training because students from other schools come together to help one another out.?That?s pretty much what Student Council is, it makes better leaders for the future,” said Perry. “It shows that Student Council is out there and trains you for everyday life. Even if you don?t win president, or have a huge role, the leadership you get is amazing. We need these events to spread all the knowledge onto the younger classes.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].