Taylor Walsh. Senior. SCA president. Where do I even begin? She is a perfect example of a student leader who will undoubtedly become a world leader. At the school, there is both the Student Council Association (SCA) and the Student Government Association (SGA). SCA focuses more on student activities, while SGA focuses on sharing student ideas, interests and concerns with the entire school community. Walsh is the SCA president this year, representing the class of 2024. Walsh participated in SCA all four years of high school. She started as the third vice president in her freshman year, the second vice president in her sophomore year, vice president in her junior year and now president in her senior year.
“I help lead and manage [the] SCA for all the things we do,” Walsh said. “Anywhere from having meetings with the sponsors about the events we want to do, to delegating the tasks out to the other SCA members. [My job is] to ensure all the events are getting done each year, and to make sure each individual part of the event is happening successfully.”
Every spring, the freshman, sophomores and juniors can run and get elected for the upcoming school year for both SCA and SGA representatives. The upcoming freshmen can run and elect their representatives in the early fall of the school year. It is an excellent way to get involved in the school community and be a reach in between your peers and administrations to foster change. Both groups organize events for the school that connect them with the community. Its main goal is to positively impact students and teach them to continue to spread the sense of community as service outward.
“My favorite event is the food drive,” said Walsh. “The president my freshman year, said the food drive was her favorite event, and I thought that’s so weird. Why would she say that out of all the fun things that we do? But I really do enjoy the community outreach events that we do, because you feel like you’re a part of something a little bigger than just [the school]. I think it’s funny now that I think the food drive is one of my favorite events.”
They also organize school events we all know: the homecoming pep rally, homecoming dance, the class Olympics, prom, student-staff basketball game, blood drive and more. There are always posters in the hall with information about these events and how you can get involved even when you’re not a part of either of the organizations. It will give you a chance to get real-world leadership experience to help you grow personally and academically in high school.
“I wanted to leave SCA in the best possible place that I could,” said Walsh. “We have relatively new sponsors this year, so I definitely worked really hard together to make sure that we are leaving [SCA] to capable people who know how each event is done. Making sure that everything is put together for the incoming president and so they can have the most seamless transition.”
Walsh has also been interconnected with the school community over the years outside of SCA. She played varsity softball for three years and is involved with clubs such as Key Club, American Civil Liberties Union, National Honors Society, and student ambassadors. She committed to the University of Virginia for the upcoming school year and plans to study economics on a pre-law track.
“My classes allowed me to have a kind of broader understanding of education in general,” said Walsh. “I wasn’t a full International Baccalaureate student because I really wanted to take a diverse class schedule. I took all the different sciences and different math [classes] to know what I was interested in and what I was not interested in. I really loved chemistry my sophomore year and thought about taking Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry, but I was really glad I took environmental [science] and [I] am now taking physics. It allowed me to find my interests, so definitely take a diverse class schedule.”
Walsh is a great example of taking full advantage of your opportunities and leaving things better than how you found them. One of her goals was to make the school and greater Arlington communities better, and she did her part to make that happen. There is no doubt she will accomplish great things in the future.
“I love SCA,” said Walsh. “I’ve been doing it for a really long time. I’ve been involved with student leadership in one way or another since elementary school, so it’s been really fun to see my growth as a person through that.
