Principal Carol Goddard created the Principal’s Leadership Council, made up of 23 students of diverse backgrounds who will work to allow student voices to help affect the choices of the school.

Hoping to change many things at Watkins Mill, the Principal‘s Leadership Council will meet every other Monday to discuss and improve many things in our school. “I had one at my last school,” Goddard said. “It is very valuable to be in touch with students and know what’s going on in the building.”

During their first meeting of the PLC, members set down ground rules and got to know each other. They also talked about ideas and things they could do to improve the school and raise school spirit. Junior Brandon Rodriguez said that during the first meeting he brought up that he “wants to get the freshman involved in the school and its spirit.”

“It really more of an advisory council,” Goddard said. The council is based off what the students suggest that the school should do, and there are many issues they are discussing. “There was an application [to be on the council] and I had the application open for two or three weeks. I had over 65 people apply, but I couldn’t keep them all. I made sure I had everyone’s diversity represented at the council,” Goddard added. Because all ethnic groups present in the school are represented in the council, the council will be an unbiased leadership tool.

There are simple issues in this school that could be fixed and make us look better. For example, “I want to try to fix all of the water fountains in the school,” Rodriguez said. But on a broader level, “The Principal’s Leadership Council wants to give Watkins Mill a better name.”

Sophomore Megan Dakwa joined the Principal’s Leadership Council, because she feels she “always thought I had leadership qualities, but I  want to learn about leadership skills and how I can improve on them.”  Dakwa likes that the council is full of very diverse people from many different aspects of the school’s society and also thinks that this council will have a very positive effect on the school.

Goddard plans to use this group to help fix Watkins Mill’s reputation in the county. “There are a lot of good things going on at this school, but when people hear the name Watkins Mill, they have a negative connotation,” Goddard said. “There are a lot of great things going on here, but they don’t know that.”

MK Kamara