PJC SGA members attend state convention in Houston

Published or Revised May 09, 2013

Paris Junior College's Director of Student Life Kenneth Webb shepherded five students to the annual Texas Junior College Student Government Association conference held in Houston, Texas, in April. Representing PJC were Ashley Reed and Lasuelo Jackson of Clarksville, Cindy Blanton of Henderson, Jamie Williams of Royse City and Derrick Waugh of Paris. TJCSGA is made up of six regions throughout Texas and PJC is in Region III. Reed had served as the Region III Treasurer for 2012-2013 and received a recognition award for her service at the meeting. Waugh was elected to serve as Region III President for the 2013-2014 year. "We left on Thursday and attended an icebreaker and general session, then a Region III meeting," said Webb. "Friday morning began with a keynote speech by former gubernatorial candidate Bill White, followed by workshops and committee elections." In addition to attending student workshops, Waugh served on the statewide Awards and Nominating Committee, Blanton served on the Historian Committee, and Webb attended the Advisor's workshop. Saturday saw elections for regional and statewide officers for 2013-2014. "Derick made his speech and got elected against opposition," Webb said. "There are ten other schools in our region and he did an outstanding job down there." It was a great learning experience for the students, Webb added. They learned of the SGA constitution and how it and the SGA legislature worked, how to make laws and propose resolutions. "It's a busy conference," Webb said. "It usually starts at 8 a.m. and ends 8-9 p.m. each day with entertainment for the students after. We had our closing session Sunday morning and left for Paris around lunchtime. I was proud of the kids, the way they campaigned, how they mingled with the other groups, how they represented Paris Junior College. It was really, truly outstanding." As Region III President, Waugh will run the fall and spring meetings and have a lot of responsibility, Webb said. In addition to Paris Junior College, SGA Region III contains Angelina College, Jacksonville College, Kilgore College, Navarro College, Northeast Texas Community College, Panola College, Texarkana College, Texas State Technical College in Marshall, Trinity Valley Community College and Tyler Junior College.