Student Faculty Council Leads Riverdale Into the Spring
The Riverdale Student Faculty Council is a club that addresses student suggestions or requests to make policy changes at Riverdale. Grade representatives act as intermediaries between students and SFC seniors, who then relay these student needs to the administration to be heard and considered. The two seniors who currently serve as the co-presidents of the SFC are Jake Siden and Gia George-Burgher. Their primary responsibilities include running weekly SFC meetings with members of the club’s three elected heads for each Upper School grade and meeting bi-weekly with their dean as well as Mr. Tom Taylor, the Head of the Upper School, and Ms. Julie Choi, Assistant Head of the Upper School, to share and brainstorm ideas. As George-Burgher elucidates, the concerns of SFC “entail everything from lunch menu suggestions to bigger things like curriculum changes.” Essentially, SFC sheds light on student concerns and allows for a system of student self-governance at Riverdale.
Some of the numerous achievements of SFC so far this year include fall homecoming, the talent show, peer tutoring, Tierney’s Tuesday, the Halloween contest, and most recently the infamous Candy Grams. Siden has focused particularly on peer tutoring, a project in which he worked to pair eleventh and twelfth graders with younger students who were struggling academically and needed extra help with classes, but who felt more comfortable working with a peer than a teacher. This Valentine’s Day, George-Burgher ran the hugely successful and fun-filled Candy Grams event in which students addressed bags of candy to one another with messages, which were then delivered to students by seniors on Valentine’s Day. The profit from Candy Grams will be donated by the senior class to a youth homeless shelter organization chosen by popular vote. The Candy Grams event was immediately followed by Tierney’s Tuesday, which Siden describes as a charitable occasion when SFC brings in “over 100 sandwiches that are sold at lunch as an alternative to the kitchen staff lunch.” Siden and George-Burgher are committed to starting more effective conversations with department heads, collaborating with other clubs at Riverdale, and further their transparency with the Riverdale community regarding SFC’s plans and achievements.
Senior Teymour Afkhami is organizing recreational high school basketball and volleyball tournaments, some of which are currently taking place, and he will also run another dodgeball tournament, an event that was thoroughly enjoyed by students and faculty last spring. These tournaments are a great opportunity for inter-grade bonding and for the development of a greater sense of community throughout the Upper School. Joel Grayson, a sophomore SFC representative, explained his aspiration to make “Riverdale more sustainable.” He plans to accomplish this goal through advocacy for sustainable water fountains, idling buses throughout dismissal, and more. He also created a motivational chrome extension for Schoology, the platform on which Riverdale holds materials, that allows students to organize and check off assignments. Additionally, SFC is organizing a Spring Fling on April 27th that will highlight Riverdale spring sports games against Horace Mann that athletes will compete in and which students, alumni, and faculty can support. George-Burgher notes that SFC will run this event “alongside the Lindy 500 and the challenged athletes foundation field day,” as well as entertain various on-campus activities. Fall sports are honored in the traditional fall homecoming during which football, soccer, volleyball, tennis, and field hockey compete in games, and alumni return to show school spirit. As Siden remarked, the introduction of the Spring Fling is an opportunity to “highlight all of the spring varsity teams” and to grant the spring sport athletes the honor they deserve while bringing the Riverdale community together and uplifting school spirit.
