"This has got to be the busiest year I have ever experienced in school. If I knew that the student council would be like this, I would not have joined in the first place." Diether said as he slouched on one of the chairs in the student council room.

"It has not been busy the last two years. It's just that the outreach this year is more complicated and is taking a lot of our time. Anyway, stop complaining, everyone is working really hard." Artemis replied.

"Yes, although it's very tiring indeed, it has never felt as gratifying. Besides, it's our last year in school, so this is also good." Joan interjected.

The three of them were the first to arrive in the meeting room. After a while, other members came streaming in. When everyone was there, Geoffrey began the meeting.

"Good morning everyone, today we have 3 agendas to discuss. First, we need to talk about the progress of the seniors in selecting the teachers for the older children in the orphanage. Second, is about the coming intramurals. Third, would be about the spring ball which would be held next month." Geoffrey briefed as he began their meeting.

"Vice President Artemis, kindly give us a summary of your progress in the first matter." He requested.

"Alright. After our Meeting last month in the orphanage, we have meticulously started the process of recruiting potential candidates for the teaching positions. After carefully sifting through the resumes submitted by the applicants, we interviewed 3 of the most qualified for each position. Yesterday we voted on who are the most deserving and we will be inviting them tomorrow for the signing of the contract. Should I give a summary of each of their profile?"

Geoffrey shook his head. "I have confidence in your judgement on that regard. Perhaps what we should discuss is the contract you drafted for signing tomorrow. Do you have a copy with you?"

"Yes, I have prepared copies for everyone to look into." Artemis replied as Diether passed copies of the draft contract around. When everyone received a copy, the members were requested to read through it first.

"As you can see, the effectivity of the contract would begin on the 12th of February and would end on the 29th of June. The reason that we selected the 12th rather than this coming Monday was because we wanted to be there when the children meet them for the first time. I think the most important factors on the contract we need to discuss would be the salary and the renewal of contract."

"I think that the contract is good, but as you said we need to discuss those two matters. Let's go through the salary first. I see here that you are giving a one-time disbursement at the end of the month. Rather than that, I suggest you divide it into two. You choose between 15-30 or 7-21. On the sum we will be paying them, I trust that you have properly surveyed the market before coming to this. So basically, that's my take on this. How about the others?" Geoffrey said.

"I just want to ask how you plan on handing them the money." Mary, as the treasurer, asked.

When no one asked anything further, Artemis spoke. "thank you for that suggestion President Geoffrey, I think that that is doable. Perhaps, 15 and 30 so that they can receive their last salary on the last day of the contract too. Meanwhile, to answer treasurer Mary's question, for ease of process, we will directly give them the cash provided they have been issued a salary voucher. We asked the facilitators in the orphanage to cooperate with us by preparing vouchers to ensure transparency, fairness, and that there would be no discrepancy. The facilitators will be the ones to check their attendance and absence will have corresponding deductions."

"Okay, since we're done with that, let's talk about the contract renewal. I think that that will pose as a problem for us. Before giving any recommendations though, I want to ask why you decided to include that." Geoffrey stated.

"Actually, at first it was just to attract more applicants because who would want a job that will only be good for a few months? But later we thought that it would provide enough incentive for the hired teachers to ensure and maintain excellence in the quality of work they deliver." Artemis explained.

"Although I understand your point, I don't think that it would be good to give them false hopes." Geoffrey remarked while shaking his head. "Perhaps we should remove that."

Artemis winced. "But I think that it is not giving them false hopes, as I recall Representative Serena said last time, not that I want to place any additional pressure, if the song generates enough income, then this effort would continue."

Everyone looked at Serena at that point. "I did say those words. So, I agree with Vice President Artemis. Aside from that, what he said makes perfect sense."

Geoffrey nodded his head, although he did not like the extra pressure placed on Serena's shoulders, he can do nothing but only support her.

"Alright. As there are no more comments or suggestions regarding the contract, upon its revision based on our discussion, the body gives it it's approval. Now, let's talk about our second agenda, which is about the intramurals. Last time, Representative Diether volunteered to head the organizing committee. Let's give him a round of applause to show our appreciation."

Everyone the room applauded him, some very loudly, while Artemis even whistled.

Diether blushed as he stood up and waved his hands like a star, saying thank you, thank you. Anyway, after that, he sat down again, and he began talking.

"The intramurals is set to begin on the 24th of February and would end on the 5th of May, rather than the 28th of April. On the first day, we will have the opening in the morning and have all the participants march on a parade. Anyway, the intramurals will cover events which represents the 6 sports activities we have in school: Polo, fencing, swimming, archery, chess and croquet. The competition will be held every Saturday and counting the days we have only 8 days as one Saturday will be overlapping with the spring ball, then I chose not to have it on the 14th of April just because we need to have our final rehearsal for our fundraising…" he paused when everyone cheered.

"I know I know… being part of the council and heading this event sure has its perks. Haha! Anyway, continuing… and the other is before the prefinal exams, so no competition on those days. Anyway, we will divide the events in a per day basis so that students will have a chance to join multiple events. Any questions so far?" Diether asked after explaining.

Douglas raised his hand, "May I ask how the teams are formed? Like for example in Polo, there are only 4 players in a team. However, I expect that more than 4 people per batch would wish to join."

Diether chuckled, "I bet that is the number 1 worry of all the freshmen male around. Hehe… anyway, no, a batch may have a maximum of 4 representing teams for each sport with team events, while for sports like chess which is played singularly, we can have 12 representatives per batch. Usually, for polo especially, what the batch does is to give one slot for team entry per class."

"Are the categories for male and female separated?"

"Yes. Anyway, currently, I am drafting the schedule of events. Another important thing to note is that on the 5th of May only the semi-finals and the final round for polo will be held. After that, we will have the awarding and closing ceremony. So far, that's it." Diether finished.

Geoffrey nodded his head, "thank you for that. Do you need any help in handling this matter?"

"There's no need, don't worry we can handle this one. I understand that most of you are very busy with leading different projects at this time. So, I think just one representative per batch, which would be composed of me, Douglas, Gina, then Artemis overlooking some matters on top, and some volunteers will suffice." Diether replied.

"That's good. Moving on, let's talk about the spring ball. Again, Representative Joan will be the head of the organizing committee." Geoffrey said as he looked at Joan.

"The Spring ball this year is scheduled on the 31st of March. To make it easier, may I request everyone to lead the same committee they did the last time?" Joan said.

The members either nodded their head or voiced their agreement.

"Alright, then I trust everyone can work just like the last time. That's it." She finished.

"Okay. So that's it for the day. Does anyone have any matter they wish to raise or add?" Geoffrey asked.

As there were none, the meeting was adjourned.

--

TBC