The role of being one of the two co-chairpersons of the Logan Park Student Council first appeared as a daunting task. There was an expectation, a responsibility – to decisively determine who we felt ‘deserved’ money and how much, decisions that were overlaid by the pressure to be equal and fair.

In hindsight, it has actually been a really interesting learning experience. We discovered that Work Day, an event easily forgotten in the head-long onwards rush of the school year, is actually deeply important for our cause. It is also important to your cause - or your friend’s cause. Because of the funds it provides the Student Council, we were to help financially boost students out of the door, towards confronting their many and variable adventures over the course of 2015. I myself am grateful to the Student Council for funding my own venture – a voyage on the Spirit of New Zealand. So next time Work Day comes round, and you or your club want to go on a trip, like the Shakespeare competition, or Outward Bound, or even on hockey tournament, please remember to pay your Workday money. By contributing a little, you are helping others in need a lot. I don’t think that’s advertised often enough, or by the right people.

One of the highlights of the Student Council year was the organisation of the farewell lunch for Mr McKinney (I say highlight, but it was a sad moment for most). Getting to host events like that, or fund worthy causes does make you feel as if you are, at least superficially, contributing to the running of the school. For a year, we supported the students of Logan Park, helping with travel, construction and production costs, from the One Act Play to the chess club, from environmental causes to sports teams. We also designed and distributed the leavers' hoodies, and a shout out to next year’s council – DO EVERTHING AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE because organising Year Thirteens is like herding cats. We’ve tried to leave our successors in good stead (and with left-over funds), and so we hope you enjoy your own discoveries about the pitfalls and high points of LPHS and its Student Council, just as we did.

Best of luck and best wishes, and a thank you to Logan for the opportunity,