Danny Surges is North’s Student Body President, but with his last semester already here, what legacy will be left behind? With projects in motion and on the way, students will begin to see what our Student Body President has in store for his last semester at North.

One project in particular is Operation Starcatcher, a project that promotes gratitude as well as students’ appreciation for one another.

“[I’m] working with NHS to develop a mural and that mural is going to go in the main hallway… by the Student Life office. There are going to be these little stars that are hanging from the ceiling, and those stars will have compliments from other students or things kids noticed,” Surges explained.

This project for positivity has been approved with only one real concern. 

“The foreseeable problems I see with it are kids tearing it down,” said Surges.

However, once the mural becomes an everyday fixture in the school, he believes that it won’t be much of a problem. 

“I think after the start of next school year kids will be like, ‘oh whatever, it’s just another thing there.’ Also, some kids will… [think] that’s a nice piece or addition to our student life,” said Surges. 

While Operation Starcatcher is already in motion, other projects are currently in the planning stages. For one project, Surges is working with another student at North, senior Kylie Henriksen. They will be creating a self-defense seminar under the name Operation Fight Back that will be available to North Stars as a trial on Apr. 9 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. If met with success, it may become a permanent fixture at North.

Surges further explained what the seminar will entail, “We’re trying to teach our North Stars to be able to take care of themselves in a crisis situation until the proper help can come.” First aid as well as self-defense tactics will be taught to help mitigate risk before help can arrive. 

This will be a collaborative effort. 

“We’re working with Vincent Vandiver’s family.” Vandiver is a fellow senior at North. “They own a Taekwondo dojang, so I’m really excited that we’ll be involving community members and North Star families. They will be leading the self-defense portion, and we will be working with local firefighters to teach how to take care of yourself,” Surges said.

Out of all of the projects started this year, he said, “That’s what I’m most looking forward to.”

His second-semester planning goes beyond just personal projects though, and Surges dove into Project Dance in particular, an event for individuals with physical and sensory needs. 

“We aren’t sure what exactly we’re doing with that, but I love it so much.” Team Polaris is a club that Surges has been a part of for several years. He has also been a member of the Project Dance planning committee. 

The Student Body President works within Student Council and collaborates with other committees and administrators to plan and make decisions surrounding senior events and other school happenings.

While Surges has pushed hard for projects and programs, this isn’t the only way he’s contributed to the school environment.

“At the start of the school year I was working with a decent bit of clubs with outreach… promoting clubs across all platforms like The Surge, Twitter, and my personal Instagram,” he describes.

Surges went on to say that the goal was to, “Just try to get people back involved with sports, the arts, and clubs.”

With passion projects such as Operation Fight Back on the way, as well as goals for growth in clubs and sports, it’s clear students have a lot in store for the second semester.