Spring Conference
Spring Conference
The 2012 Spring Leadership Conference will be held at Kodiak High School on April 12-14. Registration is now open. Click here to register. Early Bird Registration is $90 through February 24. Housing will be offered in the school.
The AASG Executive Board changes some members every conference. Come to the Spring Conference and see which of the members above have changed!
Enter the Second Annual Media Contest for Suicide Prevention and win cash and prizes of $2,000. Winners will be announced at the Conference!
Enter your Service Project into the AASG Serves Competition and win $1,000 if your project is the best! Find out what else is going on in Alaska’s schools to help others when outstanding service is recognized at the Conference!
Honor your advisor, a peer, and an administrator by nominating them for awards. You can access applications for Advisor of the Year, Student Leader of the Year, Student Leader in Service, Administrator of the Year under Spring Conference information. The most outstanding nominees will be announced and honored at the Conference!
Develop and use your leadership skills by serving in a statewide office on the AASG Executive Board. Region rep positions in regions 2, 4, and 6 will be elected at the Conference. Use the map to identify your region and contact your region rep for more information. Applications are due at the start of the conference.
Student Councils of Excellence will also be recognized at the Spring Conference.
Get Discount Fares for flights using the Code provided by Alaska Airlines.
Travel scholarships for students (especially for off-the-road-system school delegates) are due March 12.
Got questions? Email AASG Executive Director Carol Waters ma2tna@acsalaska.net.
Fall Conference
Fall Conference
Service High School in Anchorage will host the Fall Leadership Conference October 13-15, 2011! Plan now to be a part of a great opportunity to learn leadership skills to make a difference! Contact Arianna Cocallas, the registrar, to find out how your school’s leaders can be a part of AASG’s programs. A.cocallas@gmail.com To register, click here.
NASC
NASC
The Alaska delegation to the National Student Council Conference takes a rockin’ rest at the Kansas City Zoo before the 2007 NASC Conference. The National Student Council Conference showcases of dozens of outstanding international speakers, delves into great service experiences, and gives time to make friends with students from all over the world. You can go to NASC next year. Go to www.nasc.us to learn more.
Executive Board
Executive Board
The AASG Executive Board is entirely made up of students from all over Alaska. Officers are either elected or selected by interview. Many positions are eagerly contested at the Fall Conference. Each Board implements programs. The 2007-08 Executive Board adopted the RSVP program and has had training in several schools as well as at the last two conferences. Each Exec Board identifies a theme for the year. Rural-Urban Communication has been successful in supporting rural students with travel scholarships and in developing the AKStudent Network. The current theme of “Youth Strength through Involvement” connects with the U.S. presidential elections and service.
Friendships
Friendships
AASG and NASC offer many opportunities to make friends and learn from each other. AASG has set up a facebook page (Click here to visit), has the Beamer Wall at conferences, and builds in lots of time to get to know students from all over Alaska. These two delegates had a great time sharing at NASC.
IMPORTANT NEWS
Media Contest for Suicide Prevention
Enter the MEDIA CONTEST TO PREVENT SUICIDE! Develop media with a message of hope and solutions! AASG has paired up with ANTHC, looking for creative teens who put together videos to encourage positive choices. Teams or individuals can enter to be differencemakers AND win $2000 in prizes and cash! The contest ends March 31, 2012. Winners will be announced at the AASG Spring Conference at Kodiak High School, April 12-14. Every student in Alaska can be a part of this exciting media project! Media Contest Registration
AASG Serves
If you’re like most people, you want to make a difference.
AASG SERVES: SERVICE PROJECT COMPETITION
AASG will award $1000 to the Alaska High School Student Council that submits the best student council service activity. DEADLINE is April 4.
Click here for contest information.
Click here for contest application.
Want some service ideas that you can do every week? Every Monday Matters will help you with simple, powerful tools to make a difference! Go to www.EveryMondayMatters.com and check out author Matthew Emerzian’s great ideas!
AASG Honored for Suicide Prevention Campaign
The Alaska Association of Student Governments (AASG) has been named the 2011 winner of the Ardis Kyker State Service Project Award by the National Association of Student Councils (NASC). The award is presented annually by NASC and recognizes a NASC-affiliated state student council association for its organizing and sponsoring of a statewide service project that engages its membership in support of a common charity or cause.
View the entire press release:
AASG Honored for Suicide Prevention Campaign
Suicide Prevention
Join the AASG Executive Board on its journey to make high school youth differencemakers in suicide prevention. AASG is the only youth organization addressing this challenging issue! We have sponsored training for delegates at our last four conferences, and over 300 youth have learned about the warning signs, resources, and what they can do when a friend or family member feels hopeless. AASG will offer SAFETALK training at the next conferences! Click here to learn how to be a caring leader!
Teens and teachers can help save lives! Here are steps to take when you know someone who is depressed, talking about suicide, or feels hopeless.
• Listen to them with sincere concern for their feelings. Do not offer advice, but let them know that they are not alone.
• Share your feelings with them. If you feel that they may make a reckless decision, tell them that you are concerned. They need to know that they are important to you and that you care.
• Ask if they have had suicidal thoughts or if they have made a suicide plan in a straightforward and caring manner. If you feel you cannot ask the question, find someone who can.
• Do tell a counselor or someone else you know. This is not a secret you should keep. When a person tells you they are going to hurt themselves, you need to get help.
• Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
At the Fall Conference in Bethel, delegates participated in suicide prevention training on the morning of October 14. Out of that session, several delegates developed a resolution. That resolution, “Suicide Prevention in Alaska High Schools,” stated that it is “resolved, by the Alaska Association of Student Governments, that all high schools should provide suicide prevention training or awareness events.” The resolution was passed by the General Assembly by Unanimous Consent! See the Resolution
Thirty-eight media pieces were submitted to the Media Contest For Suicide Prevention. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Board member Bob Heinrichs and AASG Executive Board member Bethany Hladick announced the Media Contest Winners at the 2011 Spring Conference in Cordova. Award Winners are:
• 1st place: Jaden Nethercott from Barrow
• 2nd place: Stephanie Sison from Cordova
• 3rd place (tie): Michael White from Bethel
• 3rd place (tie): Sophie Clark from Klawock
Honorable mentions:
• Michael White from Bethel
• Mitchell Forbes from Bethel
• Shulammite Sison from Cordova
• Theron Paul from Manokotak
• Emily Brease from Tri-Valley
ANTHC sent out a press release on the Media Contest. View the press release.
Indian Country Media Network picked up the Media Contest news. View the news here.
ANTHC and GCI are working with the winners to edit the media for viewing on statewide TV stations.
The AASG Executive Board voted to continue the Media Contest for Suicide Prevention for a second year. The entries are due March 31, 2012. The Winners for the Second Annual Media Contest for Suicide Prevention will be announced at the Spring Conference in Kodiak High School, April 14-16, 2012.
The 300 delegates at the Spring Conference met to discuss resolutions during the General Assemblies. Two resolutions related to suicide prevention training were passed by the delegates: RESOLUTION KOGNITO TRAINING FOR TEACHERS IN ALASKA and RESOLUTION REQUIRING TEACHERS TO RECEIVE SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAINING
The delegates participated in an online suicide prevention simulation, Kognito/AtRisk. This material is based upon the ASSIST training. Click here to learn about Kognito.
RSVP: Raising Student Voice and Participation
The E Board initiated the Raising Student Voice and Participation program at the Fall 2007 Leadership Conference at East High School. AASG Executive Board has offered the training at every conference since 2007, and over 800 students have been trained in RSVP. School-wide summits conducted by students lie at the heart of RSVP. The summits involve all students in the school. The summits start with asking what is going well in the school. Then the students share what needs to be better in their school, and they develop action plans with the help of the Leadership Team. The Leadership Team is comprised of students who serve as facilitators and coordinators of the process. EBoard leaders Matt Cook and Megan Waggoner lead the first RSVP workshop and trained other Executive Board members.