Students of Goffstown High School’s Student Council boarded the bus for Waterville Valley bright and early at 8 am on November 13th. In about an hour or so, they’d soon arrive for the Waterville Conference. This conference, planned by the New Hampshire Association of Student Councils (NHASC) Executive Board, is held yearly in Waterville Valley. Señora McKinnon, GHS’ Student Council Advisor along with nine GHS students attended the overnight conference to “Be Monumental: Unlock Your Potential”, this year’s theme. Goffstown was one of the thirteen schools who attended this year, concluding yet another Waterville Conference to be remembered.
Marina DeMarco, a current sophomore, attended her second Waterville Conference this year, eager to create connections with students from other schools. Marina shared how Waterville is a great opportunity for Student Councils all over the state to learn from one another, taking events other councils plan and “…bringing back ideas from (that) to our own council”. Marina explained how this year was different from the last, mainly because a different group of students attended, and this year’s activities were steered more towards connecting with others rather than individual communities. Overall, Marina described her experience at this year’s Waterville Valley Conference to be enjoyable and well worth it.
Students were inspired by keynotes from Erin Pompa and Sara Freauf from the organization Work2BeWell. Both speakers engaged with students through several activities surrounding their central ideas. Erin focused on “Awakening Your Warrior Spirit” and how one can change their perspective in order to see the positives of an unfortunate situation. Sara, on the other hand, developed the idea of an “emotional first aid kit” and how students can use the following: sounds, sights, touch, smells, humans, and action to help them in stressful moments.
Evelyn O’Hara, a current senior at GHS and third year attendee of the Waterville Conference, mentioned that her favorite part of the conference was the night activities, which included Just Dance and board games. Evelyn experiences a different side of Waterville as she is a part of the executive board who plans the conference. Evelyn has been on the executive board for three years, explaining how her job is to “efficiently tend to a large population of students”, including partaking in a student-led workshop. This concluded the eventful and another successful Waterville Valley Conference.
