You may have seen an influx of color-coordinated young people in downtown Carson City this morning, and that’s thanks to the Nevada Association of Student Councils’ annual conference which this year is being hosted by Carson High School.
However, because Carson High is currently being occupied by its own students, visiting student council members took to the streets to learn about the history of our state capitol, with several groups dressed up in fun outfits and carrying Monster University-themed signs to denote their group’s identity. Students also donned teal shirts, which is the day’s NASC group color.
According to NASC Advisor Lisa Hungerford of Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, over 1,000 students are in attendance — which does not even include the full number of students enrolled in this state-wide leadership program.
NASC is a statewide organization dedicated to “facilitating collaboration, developing leadership, and exchanging ideas among Student Councils in Nevada” according to their official website. Hungerford added NASC is a way for students to build community with each other not just outside of their own school communities, but outside of their region.
Groups took to the streets today made up of a dozen or so students led by an advisor or chaperone, but no group contained more than one student from the same school — making sure that the intention of sharing ideas and collaboration from different schools and points of view was successful.
The conference is hosted by a different school in a different region each year — Carson High is technically considered the “west” as opposed to the “north” region, and are this year’s hosts.
Hungerford said yesterday, students gathered at CHS at 2 p.m. and stayed until late in the night as they worked together on leadership skills, and hosted campaigning, debates and elections for the state representatives of NASC — not leaving until after 10 p.m.
“These kids are amazing, they’re so dedicated and they truly believe in perpetual leadership and collaboration,” Hungerford said. “They join together, learn about what ideas are happening at different schools across the state, and then they bring them back and report to their own school’s council with the intention of implementing some of the ideas they’ve learned about from their peers during this conference.”
Hungerford added that as part of the NASC, school councils also must engage in charitable fundraisers and collaboration with sister programs throughout the year to maintain membership, which they also share information about during the annual conference.
Today, the students who have come from all corners of the state including Las Vegas, Battle Mountain and Elko will be taking to the Kit Carson Trail to learn about the state’s history in the North, and are also being given tours of the capitol building throughout the day.
To learn about NASC, you can visit https://nevadastuco.org/
