NMSCA state conference brings high energy to Los Lunas High School

LOS LUNAS — You could hear the excitement and feel the incredible energy from the hallways of Los Lunas High School before you even got close to the gymnasium doors Thursday night.

This was no basketball game or school assembly, though.

More than 2,000 students and adults came to Los Lunas for the New Mexico Student Council Association’s 76th annual convention. Entering the gym, the throng was greeted by the jaunty Mexicano musical sounds of Los Perdidos del Llano, a group of LLHS and Century High students who had hundreds of student council members on their feet and who set the tone for the night.

Students danced enthusiastically before the festivities kicked off, beginning with the presentation of colors by the Los Lunas HS U.S. Army JROTC Color Guard. Los Lunas Board of Education President Frank Otero and LLS Superintendent Susan B. Chavez, a former student council leader at LLHS, also spoke to the energized audience.

The effort to bring the NMSCA’s signature yearly event to Los Lunas Thursday, Feb. 12, through Saturday, Feb. 14, required the work of more than 100 LLHS students, headed up by student coordinators Halie Delgado, Payton Lipschultz, and Natalia Galindo, along with LLHS student council sponsors Christopher Garcia and Andrea Tenorio.

Delgado, a senior, was the first LLHS student to address the crowd Thursday night. She was hardly intimidated by the mass of attendees.

“It’s going to be cringy, but I feel like it was like seeing a bunch of familiar faces,” she said. “I’ve been to every state conference since my freshman year, and wrapping it up senior year, being able to host, and seeing all those faces like this is familiar. I thought, ‘This is a familiar feeling.’ I was just happy that we’re all together.”

Garcia said he and Tenorio had been considering applying to host the conference, but were waiting for the right time. When they heard NMSCA was looking for a host for the 2025-26 year, they jumped at the opportunity.

“The very first thing was, we talked. We had a meeting,” Garcia said. “It was Halie, Payton, Natalia, and me and Andrea, with our council, and we talked about the seriousness of it.”

After a pitch to then-principal Eric Tiger, the group met with Superintendent Chavez for a presentation, after which Garcia said Chavez was “all on board.”

“She was ecstatic about having it (at LLHS),” he said. “Usually it’s a two-year bid, but they didn’t have a school for this year, so they go, ‘Oh, you guys, you guys are next.’”

Instead of the usual two years to plan, Garcia said the LLHS student council was given only 18 months.

“Honestly, it all came together,” said Galindo with a laugh, talking about the rush to get the ʼ70s-themed gathering together.

“I know it sounds silly, but it’s just … it didn’t feel real, and it was really hectic. Then it’s just like, ‘Oh, it’s tomorrow.’ Then ‘It’s today! In three hours,” she related with a laugh.

Delgado agreed.

“I feel like when we were actually making the posters and doing everything, the disco balls, it felt like it was so far away,” she said. “Then, when it actually happened, we were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s actually here.’ And like, it was insane. It literally felt like a dream.”

In addition to daily assemblies, conference delegates attended workshops, met with advisors and attended an information session before holding a caucus and voting.

The conference also featured the NMSCA awards ceremony, announcement of state officers for 2026-27, and speakers A’ric Jackson, a motivational speaker well known to the NMSCA, and keynote speaker Eddie Slowikoski, a former world-class runner who is now a speaker and author.

Saturday night also featured separate dances for middle school and high school groups, along with a dinner at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

“It’s just been a long time coming,” Garcia said of the conference. “We started off a long time ago. Andrea and I have been talking about this for a few years, but then we finally have the right crew of students. Our kids have worked very, very hard to get this done.”

“The school hadn’t hosted this conference in a very long time,” said Tenorio. “Hopefully, we won’t have to wait as long to do it again.”