The Student Council provides leadership opportunities and gives students real responsibility for making things happen.
LANNA International School is a vibrant and dynamic community, offering students a wealth of opportunities to grow, lead, and collaborate beyond the classroom. Our students take an active role in shaping school life through various student-led groups, including the Student Council, the Student Athletic Organisation (SAO), the Lanna International Science and Technology Organisation (LISTO), the Lanna International Public Speaking Organisation (LIPSO), Students Promoting Action, Responsibility, and Kindness (SPARK) and LQ, our student-run magazine. With such a diverse range of activities, LANNA fosters leadership, teamwork, and creativity, ensuring that every student finds a place to thrive.
Read more specifically about Student Council, SPARK and MUN below…
The Student Council provides leadership opportunities and gives students real responsibility for making things happen.
It is basically an autonomous student organisation for Primary and Secondary schools that runs events for students and the school. On offer are excellent opportunities for students to learn a whole range of important skills outside the classroom.
Students elect council members from the student body. Students put themselves forward as class representatives, secretary, treasurer, president, vice president, events and publicity officers.
The Secondary Student Council organises fundraising events such as bake sales, car washes and discos to raise money for student events or to donate to charity. It has a large self-sustaining budget of around 80,000THB, so it is quite a serious responsibility.
Recently they donated 10,000THB to a refugee camp school and before that raised 10,000THB for a local organisation that provides education for Karen Hill Tribe children. The Student Council also runs the end of year School Prom (a large, expensive affair at a local five star hotel), Valentine’s Ball, Halloween Night and the Welcome Back Dance at the beginning of term.
Both Primary and Secondary Councils also provide refreshment stalls and other help and support at events such as Talent Nights, school drama productions, PTO events and School Barbecues.
It is a busy, vibrant organisation that meets once a week and is constantly in the process of creating and evolving social events and activities.
Model United Nations as a concept began soon after the formation of the real United Nations. It aims to teach young people about the United Nations by simulating its processes. It soon gained a wide following throughout the world and today approximately 60,000 high school and college students take part annually in local, regional or international MUN’s. We now have our very own Chiang Mai MUN.
Participants assume roles as ambassadors at the UN (Security Council, General Assembly or its committees) for an assigned country. Students are not permitted to represent their country of citizenship or residence. Delegates negotiate to frame resolutions and debate them under rules based on the rules of debate in the real UN. Students chair debates and all the officials are students.
Being a delegate is a challenging experience for high school students. Students must prepare thoroughly by researching the issues for debate, the country they represent, and their country’s position on the issues. They must learn to empathise with their country even though it may be one they feel no sympathy for. Understanding and sympathy for the peoples of other cultures is engendered.
Ultimately students must be prepared to present their country’s viewpoint in formal debate and to be challenged by questions from the other delegates. This process fosters public speaking and debating skills. All delegates must be attentive and active in their listening and be poised to challenge opposing standpoints. This is a potentially stressful activity for young people but in meeting these challenges students develop self-confidence and self esteem.
Each year there are two major Chiang Mai based Model United Nations conferences which Lanna students are fully involved in.
The SPARK initiative—short for Students Promoting Action, Responsibility, and Kindness—is a carefully selected student-led board focused on empowering students to make a positive impact within the school and wider community. SPARK enables students and student organisations to plan and run projects, events, charitable initiatives and service-learning projects, with the support of grants, loans, or a combination of both.
Students can apply for funding and promotional support by filling out and sending a SPARK application form. Unlike traditional funding channels through the school or Parent Teacher Organisation (PTO), SPARK offers a student-centered approach—by students, for students. This creates a more streamlined and dedicated process, allowing students to pursue their goals without the added pressure of contacting external bodies.
