Today, Huntley High School’s Student Council allied with Heartland Blood Center for the first blood drive of the 2012-2013 school year. Many students participated in the event, which was held across from the PAC from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The drive was originally supposed to occur in November during the week after Fall break, but had to be rescheduled due to conflicts, according to Student Council sponsor Tom Kempf.

Kempf and fellow sponsor Rebecca Davison supervised the drive, and were hoping to attain at least 110 pints of blood. Student Council members also helped with the event by assisting other students with forms and distributing snacks.

This is one of the first events that Student Council has participated in following their annual retreat. 27 students and 3 sponsors attended the retreat, which began Dec. 7 and lasted through Dec. 8. The retreat focused mainly on team building.

“This is a young [Student Council] group, and I hope [the retreat] gives them what they need to lead the program and advocate for themselves,” said Kempf. “I want them to be able to stick up for others when they see harm being done, and to use their skills in real life situations.”

Team-building activities included having students help each other to climb over a wall with no ropes, and other outdoor obstacle-course like challenges as well.

The students also had a chance to speak with other Student Council members from schools around the area. According to Senior Class representative Alekya Prathivadi , the retreat was not only educational, but fun as well.

“It’s sad being a senior, because being in [Student Council] and the retreats has changed me as a person, so I’m going to miss having those experiences and learning from other students,” said Prathivadi.

The Student Council retreats have also helped to inspire activities and ideas for the council to arrange. Last year’s retreat was where the idea for the 2012 drive-in movie event was formulated.

This year, the students had the opportunity to discuss school issues with other Student Councils, and formulated how they would handle issues similar to those at other schools, in case they over come to Huntley.

Student Council is currently planning on doing a school-wide, Olympic-inspired event towards the end of the year. The blood drive and retreat were only a few of the multiple events Student Council has created to get more students actively involved in their school and community.