Wernecke student council wins state award
The Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association awarded the Student Leadership Award to the Donna Wernecke Elementary student council for their contribution and dedication to the school. 
The Wernecke student council is one of 105 in the state to receive the TEPSA award, and they are only one of two Rio Grande Valley recipients for the 2023-24 school year. This is also the first year TEPSA selected Wernecke as a recipient since the org established the award in 2018.
TEPSA created the honor to recognize student leadership teams who demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities — something Wernecke’s team has fully embodied, according to Principal Lela Culberson.
The principal explained that the student leaders organize and help run many events throughout the school year. From awards ceremonies to fundraisers, the nearly 30-member student council keeps active in the Wernecke community.
“This group has gone just above and beyond what student councils do,” Culberson said. “They’ve really gone the extra mile, this group of kids.”
One of the major fundraisers the student council hosts is the Kiss the Pig event, where the campus raises money for the DWE scholarship. This year, the school raised enough money to award scholarships to one senior from each Sharyland ISD high school.
Another event the student council hosts is a Christmas fundraiser where the kids in each grade help make ornaments to sell. With the money earned, the student council members purchase Christmas baskets with food to donate to families in need.
The council also organizes projects for special weeks like Earth Week and Teachers Appreciation Week, and the members volunteer to be morning door greeters on a daily basis. 
Culberson said she had to start attending the student council’s weekly and sometimes bi-weekly meetings because the kids had so many initiatives they wanted to implement.
“They corner me in the hall and say, ‘Miss Culberson, we want to do this,’” she said with a chuckle. “And I say, ‘OK, well, let’s look at it in a committee and we’ll vote on it.’ Just their enthusiasm and dedication was amazing, so getting the award is kind of the cherry on the top of the cake. They earned it and I felt like it was very well-deserving for these kiddos.”
Additionally, Culberson’s son George is a student council representative for his class. The 10-year-old will be a fifth grader in the upcoming school year; he hopes to continue helping people in any way he can.
“I’m really proud to have the award for helping our school. We did a good job,” George said. “We’re representing our school and people at our school are probably happy that we have [the award].”
The Wernecke principal said it has been amazing to see her son and the other students grow and step out of their comfort zones to help the community.
“These are our leaders for tomorrow. I’m so proud of these kids,” Culberson said. “This is their future. And so allowing this platform for the students to be able to participate in this kind of thing means the world to me because they are going to be our future governor and mayor. Hopefully they’ll continue this journey in the RGV and we’ll see them.”
