OHS sent thirty delegates to the Gateway District Conference at Hazelwood Central High School on Oct. 30.

Gateway is the annual Missouri Association of Student Councils(MASC) sponsored convention for all of the middle schools and high schools in the Gateway District. The group was smaller than usual, but they were an unnaturally lively bunch.

“We had a really good small group. We had a group that was really fired up,” said Mrs. Jennifer Fruhwirth, StuCo sponsor. “No one was like ‘I don’t want to get up early on a Saturday.’ They really wanted to be there.”

The conference kicked off with a huge dance party to bring all of the schools together.

“It was a big party. There was lots of excitement in the air for 7 a.m.” said Daniel Carter (9).

After the students got settled back in, they were welcomed by Hazelwood’s principal as well as the step team, dance team and various members of their student council. Next came the guest speaker who spoke about being “Super You.” After the speaker, various high schools presented skits to run for office of the district. Special Olympics then presented to get people pumped about the annual Polar Bear Plunge and had everyone moving, doing the “Shiver Shuffle.”

After the opening assembly finished, students broke out into various workshops. OHS StuCo Exec members held two workshops, while general members attend workshops.

“I really enjoyed running a workshop because I go to interact with kids from around the district and discuss different ideas about leadership,” said StuCo President Minja Lukic (12).

The day ended with another dance party, allowing everyone to mingle with the new friends that they had made throughout the day. Also, a presentation was made about Fulton, a MASC summer camp held annually.

“[Gateway] wasn’t as strong as usual, but I think the workshops were still strong and the DJ and social aspect were still upbeat,” said Fruhwirth.