Freshman planning looks to expand members

Freshman+officers+Grant+McGraw%2C+Ryan+Shin%2C+Joanna+Jacob+and+Mia+Coven+display+their+winning+homecoming+booth.

Photo courtesy @Woottonclassof2026 instagram

Freshman officers Grant McGraw, Ryan Shin, Joanna Jacob and Mia Coven display their winning homecoming booth.

Freshman Class Planning (2026) is a club for students to have a say in things around the school community by planning events for their class, working with class officers to fundraise, and build school spirit.

To become an officer of class planning is different from joining; a student of each grade needs to be elected for one of the four different positions. There is a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer in each of these positions. Each of these positions have different jobs; the president is the lead along with the vice president as second lead, the treasurer takes care of money, while the secretary keeps everything organized. “I wanted to be the president of this club because I wanted to add spirit to our school, and support our class to make our time at Wootton successful,” freshman class President Mia Coven said.

Student planning can help develop leadership skills. According to Edutopia, there is considerable evidence that student achievement and engagement in a school can be increased 

if students feel that they have a real voice. Decorating a booth for homecoming and the courtyard made students feel connected to the school, along with the fall festival where students sold fall items to fundraise for the ninth grade. “In our club, we fundraise and participate in fun class competitions,” freshman class treasurer Grant Mcgraw said.

Class planning meets once every two weeks at lunch. When class planning officers and members meet they discuss which events of fundraising are on the way, then organize the events and plan how to hold them. “This club is necessary because somebody needs to put together the ideas and perform them all,” Spanish teacher Sheila Morejon said.

As students are involved in club planning, they get to see the outcome of things they have organized. This helps students stay invested in their learning and can ignite passions that will increase their persistence.“I am a member of class planning; it was fun to paint the booth because when I got to see it finished I was like ‘wow I made that’,” freshman Siena Mccarthy said.

Members of the club get to be connected by creating things for different events happening while the officers take charge. During the creation of the homecoming booth and courtyard, members got to help out by designing banners, painting the booth, and creating fun characters out of cardboard to match the theme of fantasy.  “Freshman class planning helps the school community because it helps direct students of the 2026 generation into activities that they enjoy,” Morejon said.

The money raised at these events gets saved and is used to organize more events in the future such as junior banquet and prom. The more money raised, the more money that can be put into these events for the class of 2026. “My favorite thing about this club is the learning experiences it creates. I learn about the organization, leadership, and how to manage finances,” Coven said.