Bishop Feehan’s Student Council was proud to host the 2025 Winter SEMASC Conference on February 4, 2025. It’s been something that we’ve wanted to do for a while — ever since we attended our first ever SEMASC conference in the spring of 2022. We’re one of the newer schools in SEMASC, and our seniors from the Class of 2024 pushed for us to host a conference last year; we learned that we’d be hosting this time at last year’s Spring conference, as I wrote last April. We are so happy to have had this opportunity, and we had a great time.
SEMASC stands for “Southeastern Massachusetts Association of Student Councils” and is made up of many schools in the region, including Bishop Feehan. Around 350 students from 25 schools attended the Winter conference. They brought with them high energy and spirit, in addition to care baskets to be donated to Dana-Farber. Feehan’s underclassman Student Council members enthusiastically welcomed students and advisors as they entered through the cafeteria entrance.
After checking in, students went to the ‘Rock, where snacks and cornhole boards were set up. Inspired by some of our Feehan retreats, Avary Serpa ‘25 and Aidan Neary ‘25 led the schools in a game of Pocket Lint — which they greatly enjoyed. Students then got a chance to dance and have fun before heading into the auditorium for the opening session.
The opening session was largely run by the SEMASC Executive Board, consisting of President Hannah Selig (Silver Lake), Vice President Adrianna DaRosa ‘25 (Bishop Feehan!), Secretary Mackenzie Moore (Carver), Publicity Coordinator Jocelyn Bush (Middleboro), Webmaster Jackson Taylor (Duxbury), and Delegates Bryce Egeli (Nauset), Saanvi Kumar (Foxborough Regional Charter School), and Elizabeth Nyberg (Plymouth South), in addition to beloved SEMASC advisor Mrs. Linda “Fran” Francis. I [Feehan Student Council President Rohit De] had some major speaking parts in the session. Our principal, Mr. Kane, also addressed the conference with his opening remarks, and members of the Feehan Jazz Choir sang our national anthem.
There were a few special parts during this opening session. The SEMASC board members took turns leading “energizers”, which are fun dances/chants to get people up and moving. Feehan’s Student Council had the chance to get up on stage and lead one called, “Toast”! Feehan also invited alumnus Peter McKay ‘81 — CEO of Boston-based cybersecurity firm Snyk— to address the audience in a fireside chat style, with Adrianna DaRosa ‘25 and Bridgette McGinnis ‘26 asking relevant leadership questions. Finally, the conference got to hear speeches from four candidates running to be SEMASC President for the 2025-2026 school year. Executive board members Saanvi Kumar, Elizabeth Nyberg, and Jackson Taylor all gave speeches, as did King Philip junior JoHanna Regan.
Afterwards, it was time to head to round table discussions, led by the SEMASC Board and Feehan Student Council members in the ‘Rock and cafeteria (Student Council advisors also had their own discussions). These round tables discussed various leadership topics, such as decision making, event planning, delegating tasks, and communicating with adults. After round tables, it was time for dinner in the Caf and workshops in the Innovation Center. Members of the SEMASC board and presidential candidates led workshops on a variety of topics; for instance, Adrianna’s workshop was called “Asteroids”, and involved dealing with obstacles and setbacks while planning events. Dinnertime saw competitions to see which group could perform the SEMASC “Party” chant the loudest. We also got ice cream sandwiches!
The night ended back in the auditorium with our closing session. We got to see the video SEMASC’s Corrine Horsman put together for our conference (linked in this article), in addition to a video previewing the spring conference at Attleboro High. Hannah and I each got to address the conference one last time, and Mr. Ryan and I received small thank you gifts for planning the conference. (We also gave Mr. Ryan a lot of shout-outs and applause for all the work he’s done for this conference!) As the conference ended, Hannah announced that Jackson Taylor (Duxbury High School) had been elected the SEMASC President for the next school year.
Hosting this SEMASC Conference required a lot of time and planning on our part: our council met with the SEMASC executive board at Feehan twice in the lead-up to the conference, and we had many of our own meetings dedicated to planning as well. In the end, it was a fun and fulfilling experience for all of us. (It was also the first time the newly elected freshmen participated in SEMASC, as it came about three weeks after their election!) We were so glad for the opportunity to host this conference and grateful for everyone that showed up to it. There were so many people involved in making this a successful conference — including Fran, Hannah, Adrianna, the SEMASC Executive Board, Mr. Ryan, Feehan Student Council, Feehan’s Homeroom Representatives, and guest speaker Mr. McKay — and we are so grateful for all of their hard work. Feehan probably won’t host another conference until all of our current students have graduated, so we’re glad to have had this special opportunity with SEMASC.
Before the spring conference at Attleboro, Bishop Feehan will also be sending 7 students (Adrianna DaRosa ‘25, Owen Kobs ‘25, Conner Rachwal ‘26, Annie Mackinaw ‘26, Mary Salter ‘26, Serena DaRosa ‘27, and Gabby Graziano ‘27) to the Massachusetts Association of Student Councils (MASC) state conference in Hyannis from March 5th to March 7th.
