Gripes about Groups

As the first year of high school comes to a close around here, I'm feeling a need to vent about one particular part of school that didn't go so hot, Student Council.

The Girl tried, really tried, to be involved with Student Council this year but she was literally a day late and a dollar short for most everything. She was constantly missing events and meetings simply because she never knew when things were happening. Communication for this group is right at the level of sending smoke signals. Mostly news is just passed on by word of mouth (or texting) and just like that classic game of Telephone, along the way the messages would get garbled and lost.

Now you are saying, I'm sure that if she put forth a little more effort, she would have been able to participate more. People, I'm telling you she tried! She would ask her friends, text officers, check her Facebook and walk by the Student Council bulletin board all the time and she still had no idea what was going on...for an entire school year!

Right now she's at the Student Council banquet. We found out about it yesterday. She was told to bring a dessert and it started at 6:30. At 6:15 she started getting texts from people asking where she was because it started at 6:00. That's been Student Council in a nutshell. (And, no. I didn't send a dessert.)

I don't know if it's the officers in charge right now or the overly-taxed, mostly absent advisor or what, but I am completely done with Student Council.

I wish she were. But, alas, no.

I thought that Cross Country was unorganized, but at least there was a written schedule and a phone number of somebody who actually knew something you could call. The problems with Cross Country came mostly with being told things like, "It's just like we did last year". When I would point out that we weren't around last year, there would be an honest moment of surprise and then apology. Unfortunately, this scenario happened over and over and over during the season, but at least we did eventually get answers. I take solace in that THIS year, we'll be in the know.


The Girl has now left the Student Council banquet to go to Dance Team try-outs. I'm not down with this. Not at all. But I'm putting on a brave face and letting her make her own decision. The parent letter she brought home after the first try-out read like a nightmare; required uniforms, year long fundraisers, dance camp, hours of practice for 2 minutes of performance one a week. Ugh. I am filled with dread. Please, please, please just let it be organized at least!

Update: She made the team!