by Maggie Lohmann

Shortly after the conclusion of the 2014-2015 school year, Bridgeport High School Student Council was already preparing for the coming year. Members of the group’s executive board traveled to Adventures on the Gorge - located in Lansing, West Virginia - for exploring, team-building and planning. While on the trip, students discussed events they hoped to hold, T-shirt designs, Homecoming themes and much more. Among those items discussed was what to do for back-to-school.

After the trip to Lansing and several smaller meetings throughout the summer, the executive board is prepared to collaborate for events such as back-to-school work days, freshmen orientation and a pool party.

On Tuesday, August 11, the executive board will be helping faculty prepare the school building for the first day of school on Thursday, Aug. 14. Duties on those days include painting signs, designing bulletin boards and assisting teachers in preparing their classrooms for the arrival of the Bridgeport High School student body.

Once the work days are finished, Student Council will be prepared to assist with orientation, which will be held 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, August 12 for freshmen and new students. Prior to the program, students are invited to participate in a scavenger hunt hosted by the Student Council. This will help students to familiarize themselves with the school building, and all who complete the activity will be entered in a raffle to win tickets for the BHS Homecoming dance to be held on Saturday, October 3. The scavenger hunt will begin at 5:30 p.m. Afterward, BHS administration will lead a program in the auditorium. There will be a brief review of school policies and several clubs and organizations will be introduced. Then, parents and students are invited to attend each class in their schedule and meet the teachers they will have in the coming year.

Also at orientation, new Roll Tribe T-shirts will be sold. These T-shirts were designed by the Student Council and will be available to BHS students and faculty. The cost for each shirt is $12.

The final back-to-school event slated for the first week of school is a school-wide pool party to be held Friday, August 14 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Bridgeport City Pool. The event is free and for BHS students only. There will be music and games, as well as pizza, offered.

The Student Council theme for the 2015-2016 school year will be “We Just Need ‘U’.” Student Body officers for the year are President Ross Marra, Vice President Paige Rice, Secretary Katie Mossburg, Treasurer Morgan Signorelli, Historian Leigh Hornor, Publicist Maggie Lohmann and Membership Chair Katie Coburn.

Editor's Note: Pictured is a group of executive board members who attended Adventures on the Gorge. The photo was taken just before the group went down the New River.