St. Patrick Student Council Honored by National Group for Fourth Straight Year

BILOXI, Miss —For its exemplary record of leadership, service, and activities that serve to improve the school and community, the St. Patrick Catholic High School student council has been recognized as a 2019 National Gold Council of Excellence by the National Student Council (NatStuCo).

“Receiving a National Gold Council of Excellence Award reflects the highest dedication on the part of the school to providing a strong, well-rounded student council program,” said Ann Postlewaite, National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) student programs director. “NatStuCo applauds the work of the National Gold Councils of Excellence and challenges them to continue their leadership and service to their schools and communities.”

“I am very proud of our Student Council for receiving this award for the fourth consecutive year. They apply for the recognition on their own, with only my signature as approval that it was completed fully and appropriately, and refuse to accept anything other than the highest honor of “gold.” This is truly a testament to our student leaders here at St. Patrick and to Beyla Bleichner, their historian, in their initiative of putting together the portfolio for the application and appealing to their principal for a letter of recommendation. I am honored to have been a part of this special group of students.” said Amber Buckley, who oversees the student council.

To meet the requirements for the National Council of Excellence Award, a student council must meet a variety of criteria. In addition to basic requirements such as a written constitution, regular meetings, a democratic election process, the councils have demonstrated successful sponsorship and participation in activities such as leadership development and service to the school and community. Councils awarded the gold level of the award have successfully demonstrated the highest levels of leadership.

This was not the only honor bestowed upon St. Patrick’s Student Council recently. On April 5th, the Student Council attended the Mississippi Association of Student Councils (MSASC) conference in D’iberville. Over 20 Gulf Coast area schools were a part of the annual conference which focuses on bettering student councils in Mississippi. St. Patrick’s own Student Council was honored to serve as president of the conference this year.

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St. Patrick Catholic High School is a faith-based, college preparatory high school in Biloxi, Mississippi. Established in 2007, St. Patrick is the premier secondary educational institution in South Mississippi and strives each day to Educate Scholars, Train Disciples, and Support Champions. St. Patrick is proud to report a 100% college matriculation rate, ACT and SAT scores that far exceed the state and national averages, and a rich history of Catholic education founded in the traditional roots of our legacy schools of St. John High School, Mercy Cross High School, Notre Dame High School, and Sacred Heart Academy.