Harmon taking reins of Bearden’s SGA

Only hours after Mrs. Rachel Harmon was encouraging her SGA students to bring in their emergency sheets, she found herself in the hospital. As the new SGA sponsor, though, Mrs. Harmon is keeping a positive attitude. “I was telling everyone, ‘you never know when you might be injured,’ and I was the first one in the hospital,” Mrs. Harmon said. “My students asked, ‘Is this situational irony?’ and I said, ‘Yes it is.’” Mrs. Harmon, soon to begin her second year as a full-time English teacher at Bearden, was walking in the cafeteria when she hit her leg on a cafeteria stool, knocking her knee out of place. She refuses to let this injury slow her down, however, as SGA has already started working on their first big project, Second Harvest. SGA is planning many different fundraisers to support Second Harvest, including expanding “Flick on the Field” and focusing on the class competition between the Juniors and Seniors for the Dawg Lot. Mrs. Harmon says that SGA has planned a goal that is “considerably higher” than last year’s collection of $68,000. With only eight weeks until the collection ends, Mrs. Harmon recommends that students “start watching for announcements and events.” Mrs. Harmon is already looking ahead, with projects like Special Olympics, Food for Kids, and Make-A-Wish later this year and in the spring. “We’ll be doing a lot of philanthropy this year,” she said. SGA is also planning on doing a Student Appreciation and Teacher Appreciation every month. Mrs. Harmon is not only bringing changes to SGA and Second Harvest, but also to the student body as a whole. “Dr. Bartlett has approved three different dates for pep rallies which is very exciting,” Mrs. Harmon said. After last year’s spirit night proved a little less than successful, it was decided that a boost in school spirit was needed. SGA hopes pep rallies will accomplish this. “I sat down and talked with the students about the key problem areas, and we saw those to be communication, planning, and student involvement,” Mrs. Harmon said. She acknowledged that low attendance of some events was due to lack of communication. Mrs. Harmon is also trying to get different groups of people involved so that it really will be a student run organization. “I think SGA is a wonderful organization,” Mrs. Harmon said, “and it’s nice to have to opportunity to make it even better than it already is.” The student representatives of SGA are equally excited to have Mrs. Harmon as their sponsor. “Mrs. Harmon is a great teacher and cares a lot about the students and the school,” senior representative Bailey Highland said. Added SGA Vice President Oliver Feng: “Mrs. Harmon will be an amazing SGA advisor because she has had lots of experience with SGA in the past.” Mrs. Harmon has a lot planned for the school and SGA and is determined to work hard. Her students are confident she will – with or without two good knees.