About Us

The Indiana Association of Student Councils has been in existence for over sixty years. The first leader of the IASC was Thomas Sterling, principal of T.C. Howe High School in Indianapolis. Since its inception, there have been 7 executive directors: Don Weeks, principal of Columbia City High School (late 1960s-1978); Larry Stoner, principal of Oak Hill High School (1978-1981); Sandy Hillman, formerly a principal at Center Grove High School (1981-1998); and Kathy Rinsch, former Director of the Knox County Community Foundation (1998-2008), Rob Zeider, former director of bands and choirs at Kouts High School (2008-2020), Michael Lovely, teacher at Kankakee Valley High School (2021-2023), and Carmen Lusk, teacher at Lawrenceburg High School (2023-present).

 Over the years the IASC has grown into a dynamic organization that provides a variety of programs that develop leadership in councils throughout the state. It currently has five divisions: Elementary, Middle School, High School, Advisor Programming, and Alumni, which were created between the years 1993-2003.

 The Middle and High School divisions have a combined Executive Committee, which oversees programming for these levels. The first Executive Committee, formed in 1978, consisted of three people—Don Weeks, Gene Haney, and Sandy Hillman. Today most of the Executive committees contain at least 12 representatives, two from each of the 6 districts in Indiana. Originally the IASC had just 8 districts. In 1985, the current configuration of 12 districts began. Over the years and with the changes in education in Indiana, the High School Division has become the dominant division within the IASC. Most of the programming revolves around high school students.

 Currently, the IASC is an independent organization. In the past it has been closely tied to one of the state principal's organizations, the Indiana Association of Secondary School Principals. From 1981-1991, the IASC operated under the Division of Student Activities of the IASSP. Beginning in 1992 and ending in 2001, our organization operated under the Department of Student Activities of the Indiana Association of School Principals. In 2002, the IASC struck out on its own and became known as the Indiana Association of Student Councils, Inc. (IASC, Inc.).