As the 2025 – 2026 school year comes to an end, Kennedy’s Student Government senior officers share their experiences and what they have contributed to the community.
Student Government has six senior officers: Julia Bruns, Emily Brandt, Irelyn Ballard, Estella Bruna, Kayla Langerman, and Addison Kellogg. The officers are in charge of the classroom, plan for fundraisers, find volunteer opportunities, organize school dances, and put together events and like Circle of Friends and Presents for Patriots.
”We do a lot of things around the school, like organizing the Spring Fling and Homecoming, and setting up blood drives,” Senior officer Julia Bruns said. “We also host holiday parties for the teachers’ kids… we did a staff kids Christmas and Easter party.”
Bruns joined Student Government her junior year and became an officer during her second year.
“Being in Student Government as an officer has made me more aware of what goes on behind the scenes at school,” Burns said. “Organizing things and getting things going for dances and fundraisers. It’s definitely helped me have more appreciation for the people who help with that stuff.”
Along with Bruns, senior Emily Brandt also joined Student Government in her junior year to get more involved at Kennedy.
“I really have enjoyed getting involved in the community with all of the clubs,” Brandt said. “I found out about Student Government through all of my friends who were in it, so I decided to try it out, and I ended up really liking it.”
Student Government doesn’t just consist of a class full of students working on their own projects, but as a community that works together.
“I’m going to miss the environment and how easy it is to do things in a community,” Brandt said. “When you’re in a group, it’s easier to plan what you’re doing, like we’re going to the Hiawatha Care Center today, and then we’re going to pick up trash the next day. It’s harder to plan and do those things when you’re by yourself.”
While the rest of the class volunteered for various projects, the Officers had one of their own.
“All of the officers, we started visiting various nursing homes and began to do more community service for them. I like to see the people at the nursing homes happy whenever we visit,” senior Irelyn Ballard said.
The class gives students the chance to experience various leadership roles that benefit them in school and beyond the classroom.
“I wanted genuine leadership experience where I would be partially in charge of looking over a class of approximately 40 kids. I was also excited about the opportunity of representing Kennedy High School,” senior Estella Bruna said. “I am also very service-focused and just enjoy helping others. That was enough to keep me in it.”
From doing arts and crafts with the buddies to buying gifts for veterans, the Student Government officers are almost always actively doing something to make their community better.
“Last year I served on the Hiawatha Parks & Recreation board, and this allowed me to find outside volunteer opportunities in the city of Hiawatha and also provide volunteers from our Student Government to help at Hiawatha events,” said Bruna. “But my favorite thing is placing American flags on the graves of veterans for Memorial Day.”
Joining Student Government allows students the opportunity to connect with everyone from all grade levels, including giving back to their community, and also helping everyone feel like they belong at Kennedy.
