Oh, man. Where do I even start in preparing to be the new student council advisor?

Whether the opportunity is one you jumped at, or it was a bit of a “voluntold” situation (that was me!), the initial overwhelm is real. It’s definitely not the same as teaching a regular class, nor is it quite the same as being a sports coach. It really is its own unique role. And a big one, too!

Looking back to that summer before I started as my school’s advisor and leadership teacher, I remember having no idea where to start my planning. I really wished I had an outgoing advisor to give me a few concrete starter tips, but in lieu of that I had to figure it out as I went.

If that’s you, I’d love to share some of what I learned. Here are the very first 5 steps I recommend you take after getting that title of Student Council Advisor.

Hopefully, you’ll have the luxury of summer break before your new position begins. But even if it’s a start-tomorrow situation, these steps are simple enough to tackle in that first week or so alongside your student leaders.

Read Your Student Council’s Constitution

First and foremost, get ahold of your student council’s constitution, preferably a digital copy.  This is your most important document as a student council advisor.

Read it over, mark it up, take notes.

It should contain the basic parameters of your school’s student government: the officers’ basic job duties, when and how elections and meetings are held, things like that. The most foundational part of your job as advisor is making sure these are followed. So be sure you know what they are!

If you are starting a program from scratch, or taking over for one that doesn’t have a constitution, grab my customizable StuCo Constitution template for a super easy starting point.

Your school’s constitution should be broad without too many specifics—this is a good thing!

It means you’ll be able to decide what’s best for your program and make changes year to year, even if it creates more questions than answers right now. Don’t worry, step #3 is all about finding the person who can fill you in on all those details.

Make a list of all the questions you have about what’s not in your constitution. For example, it likely just says that council meetings are to be held bi-weekly. So, you’ll want to inquire about the specifics of when and how those meetings have been occurring.

Start a Master Student Council Calendar

The next step is to gather all the school and sports calendars, as well as the major holidays for the upcoming school year and get a master calendar going.

First plot all the dates that’ll likely involve your program, no matter how little you know about your position. Things like:

• School holidays, half days, late starts, and early arrivals
• Staff appreciation days, cultural holidays, and any major community events
• Sport season start and end dates
• School board or building leadership meetings

Second, put together a list of all the events you assume or know your school’s program does, but that don’t have decided dates yet. These are things like:

• Assemblies
• Dances and any other after-school events
• Homecoming and spirit week events
• Student council and class meetings
• Fundraiser events
• Sports season schedules and district/state tournaments

When you’re ready, be sure to use this checklist to finish filling out your StuCo calendar for the whole year.

But for now, you just need your partially complete calendar, marked-up constitution, and all your questions for the next step.

Learn Your School’s Traditions

Find the person on campus with the most institutional knowledge of your school’s traditions and events. Ask them to sit down with you for an hour to tell you what they are and how they’re done.

This might be the out-going advisor if you are lucky enough to have access to them. If not, often it’s a long-time teacher or secretary. It may even be that super-involved PTA alumni parent. For me, it was a paraeducator who’s the helps-out-with-everything person at my school.

If you are new to your school, don’t be afraid to ask around for who this person is.

Sit down with them, your calendar, and your questions. Walk through the major school events that happen each month, how meetings are held, and any other core responsibilities or traditions your group is responsible for.

These are the kinds of things that even the most organized out-going advisor’s paper trail may not answer, and you may not have thought much about as a teacher in the school. But now as advisor, they’re your responsibility.

Find a StuCo Mentor

Reach out to the advisor at a neighboring school. See if they’d also be willing to meet with you for a bit to share all their best advice and tips, ideally in their classroom! That way you can also see how to physically set up and organize all the stuff – the art supplies and assembly equipment, student binders or journals, and all those half-finished and still-wet posters.

Hopefully you’ll be able to reach out to him or her with future questions as they come up, too. Like, next spring when you’re figuring out your first student council election.

You’ll also want to check to see if you have a state student council association. They should have online resources as well as trainings and events to help you get started. They also might be able to connect you with someone nearby if you haven’t been able to find anyone.

Sign Up for Stress-Free StuCo

This final step is also the easiest! Each issue of Stress-Free StuCo is emailed out the last week of the month. It’s a curated list I put together of “here’s what you need right now” blog posts, resources, and ideas perfect for planning your upcoming month.  I even throw in free one-hour, print-and-go lesson activities.

Plus, you’ll also get instant access to my free Service Leadership Starter Kit, which will help you create a program centered on serving others.

If you are looking for a few more first steps as a new advisor, check out my StuCo Starter Kit and Intro to Leadership PBL unit. Both are essential in getting your program going as a new leader. Also, be sure to browse the rest of my student council blog posts for more tips and advice to get you through the whole year.

Feature image credit: Marissa Grootes