Student body treasurer adapts to position changes

Many students are keenly aware of dramatic changes in their lives brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. It has pushed schools to go online, stopped all NIAA sports, and prevented many students from participating in the clubs and other extracurricular activities.

A club that has changed considerably due to the pandemic is Silverado’s Student Council. Student Council is no longer allowed to make posters/signs, prepare for spirit weeks, or have lunch-time activities.

Shortly before school was cancelled back in March, senior Jacob Whipple was elected to be Student Body Treasurer for the 2020-2021 school year.

“I wanted to be treasurer because I’ve wanted to be an SBO (Student Body Officer) since my freshman year,” Whipple said. “I thought I could be treasurer because I wanted to keep up with the school’s finances and keep things on track.”

Unfortunately, with school going online this year, quite a few of the  functions  and responsibilities of his position are no longer needed. Despite the setbacks Whipple has faced, he has been able to adapt quickly.

“I can’t really do fundraisers which makes [my position] really hard, so we’ve resorted to really tight budgeting,” Whipple said, “Most expenses have to be approved by our advisor and then I have to sign for them.”

Although his position has taken on new challenges, the basic parts of it remain the same.

“The main responsibilities of being treasurer are to keep a detailed record of all expenses, oversee and officiate fundraisers for Student Council,” Whipple said. “I am still able to make decisions for the council and be an SBO with everyone else. I also still can have SGF (student generated funding) meetings with the banker and the principal. There isn’t a lot of SGF seeing that we aren’t in school, but we still have to have them.”

With things changing so quickly, there are still many lessons that can be learned from being a leader within the school.

“Being an SBO has taught me how to really be a leader and how to work effectively with others,” Whipple said. “Being treasurer and having to budget and keep track of finances has taught me how to be creative when adapting to circumstances.”

Whipple has faced new challenges every day with his position, but continues to adapt and learn new things from each experience. Whipple is a senior, so while he is a leader and has important things going on at Silverado, he also has to prepare for the next steps in his future.

“I want to go to college and be as independent as possible,” Whipple said. “Part of that is learning how to manage money which my position has taught me. In college, I want to major in business and hopefully start my own one day, and a major part of owning a business is expenses. I feel like my position has helped me learn early about how to manage money so I can accomplish this.”