At Athens Drive High School, where dreams are as diverse as the student body itself, one leader stands out among the rest. That student is Susan McGraw. To some, McGraw is an outgoing classmate. To others, she’s an encouraging teammate. To the entire student population of Athens, McGraw is a dynamic student body president with a passion for improving the school.
McGraw has been involved in Student Council since 6th grade, and has carried her leadership roles throughout high school. She enjoys a busy lifestyle, balancing leadership roles in golf, FCA, NHS, Blue Crew, Superintendent Leadership Council, Recycling Club and the challenging role of student body president.
Members of the Athens Student Council are considered the leaders of the student body. They take charge in planning, promoting and attending student events. A board of students from all grade levels help out with powder puff, homecoming, coming home, prom, spirit weeks, the dodgeball tournament and volleybros. As student body president, McGraw’s role is to make sure everyone on the council is working together and creating the best possible plans for the school and students.
“I like to be super involved in meetings by staying the whole time, making sure everybody is on the same page, sending out reminders for things, and sending out sign-up geniuses,” said McGraw.
At the beginning of second period students are familiar with the morning announcements said by the student body president each year. Announcements intail a wide variety of information, ranging from club meeting times to sporting event victories. At first, McGraw was slightly nervous to give the announcements because everyone hears them live.
“I had butterflies in my stomach. But also you’re human and people know that you’re human, so it’s not a big deal if you stutter or mess up,” said McGraw.
With a constantly changing meeting schedule, being a part of Student Council teaches members better communication skills. Every member is a leader with their own creative ideas. In order to get things done they each have to stay organized and communicate kindly, but also efficiently.
“It’s always good to work collaboratively with others even when people have different ideas from you. You get to grow and learn cooperation,” said McGraw.
Math teacher Christopher Remaley plays a vital role at Athens, especially in Student Council. As the advisor, he loves to see students experience real leadership roles and grow an understanding of how to plan events.
“Susan has been very, very impressive so far. An outstanding student body president, and I just know she’s going to have a great year; I know she will,” said Remaley.
Remaley is always interested in how the student body president can make things even better each year. So far, McGraw has already taken ownership of new ideas and a fresh twist on events Student Council has done in the past. Athens Drive has not had a homecoming dance since 2018. With McGraw’s help, Student Council is planning the dance this year after voting the dance theme “Olympics in Athens Greece”.
McGraw has also suggested creating “the drive girls” parallel to “the drive guys.” To make it equal, McGraw wants to add a girl version in which students can vote each other for different superlatives.
“She’s not willing to settle and I love that about her. She’s willing to talk about what can we do better, and she challenges other people to do the same thing and I love that,” said Remaley.
There are a lot of exciting things in store for the upcoming year at Athens Drive. Under new leadership, Student Council is planning ahead and setting the stage for another great year of fun events.
“I get to see the behind-the-scenes. I get to be a part of that,” said McGraw. “I like getting to see people be happy.”
