November 25, 2008 - Shaker Junior High School's newly elected Student Council members were sworn in by New York State Supreme Court Justice Eugene Devine earlier this month.

Junior high students elected 19 fellow classmates to the Student Council, including a president and vice president for each of the school's four halls in both seventh and eighth grades and a member at large for three halls in the seventh grade. The swearing in ceremony was held in the school cafeteria and Judge Devine administered the oath of office to council members.

The ceremony's keynote speech was given by Mark Frost, editor of The Chronicle, a weekly newspaper based in Glens Falls. Frost, who founded the newspaper in 1980, spoke to students and their families about making hard choices and asked audience members what choices they would make given several different scenarios. Audience members generally agreed on what choice to make at first, but many took opposing sides once Frost provided more information.

Frost encouraged students to spend time trying to understand people they disagreed with and not to shy away from making tough choices, saying that great leaders embrace tough choices.

8th Grade Student Council Members

Calhoun Hall

Katarina Bagri - President

Nora Quinn - Vice President

Clay Hall

Brittany Searles - President
Kendall Gardner - Vice President

Houston Hall

Zack Yakel - President
Amber Decker - Vice President

Norris Hall

David Morrison - President
Mike Galvin - Vice President

7th Grade Student Council Members

Calhoun Hall

Adam Mezail - President
Paige DeWitt-Holub - Vice President
Zack Baird - At Large

Clay Hall

Jessica Falace - President
Shannon Mukerji - Vice President
Katie Yan - Vice President

Houston Hall

Quinn Sorady - President
Sean Egan - Vice President
Giovanna Ciavardoni - At Large

Norris Hall

Jack Sheppeck - President
Tyler Ross - Vice President