The Honor Council is an integral part of the Maggie Walker community, responsible for promoting honor amongst the student body and creating a transparent learning environment. The council is made up of twelve students, three from each grade, with Alan Watts ('22) as the council’s chair and Katie Hollister ('23) as secretary. Students have the chance to have their voices heard by their peers and express themselves to elected representatives about issues regarding honor and integrity. Members themselves bear the task of helping guide students to remain honorable throughout their journey at Maggie Walker. 

"Honor, to me, is about taking responsibility for your actions and maintaining transparency and honesty, even when there's no one else around," said Hollister, when asked what honor at Maggie Walker means to her. The importance of honor at MLWGS is introduced at Freshman Orientation and is intended to stick with everyone throughout their high school career. As Max Smith, the council’s sponsor, explained, "Honor defines our values, our relationships, and our beliefs. It is the foundation of the community of trust that we have established at Maggie Walker." At MLWGS, honor allows for trust, and trust enables students to experience individual freedom in their school lives, such as off-campus lunch, take-home tests, and unsupervised study halls. 

To better understand how honor is viewed among students and faculty, the Honor Council sends out a climate survey to receive feedback and work towards new initiatives. This tradition began last year to allow the council to see changes in the community of honor over time, with the anonymity of the survey encouraging students to provide the Council with honest feedback. The survey last year was administered during online classes, where students were left without supervision and had access to their notes anytime. "I believe that our school's community of honor has been weakened by COVID and online school, simply because students were left to their own will, and when given a choice between maintaining honesty and securing a high grade, students chose the latter," Hollister mentions, addressing the concerns with academic dishonesty in 2020. Now that school is back in person, many students and faculty are trying to readjust to being back in the classroom, and the Honor Council is trying to help make that transition easier. 

"We’ve been able to learn that generally the students of Maggie Walker do value honor and support the initiatives that the Honor Council makes to reach out to the students and promote honor," Alan Watts said about the survey. However, Watts said, "Several students also noted that while most Maggie Walker students have integrity when it comes to being honest and refraining from stealing from each other, cheating is still the main issue that we face because of the academic stress and pressure prevalent in our school culture." The Council's student feedback mainly discussed the desire for more consistent outreach to the student body online and through new initiatives. Many students face a great deal of academic stress, and some students find it challenging to maintain honor and integrity when under that much pressure. 

With the survey results in mind, the Honor Council discussed their plans for the year and new initiatives at their annual retreat, where the council’s existing members connected with the newly elected freshman representatives and organized events for the year. This year, the Honor Council has set up a booth at Fall Fest, held junior and freshman elections, and hosted signing ceremonies. The council is also working on being more consistent with Moments of Honor and updating their social media. Additionally, Watts stated, "This year, the Council plans to partner with counseling and the Bring Change to Mind Club to plan a Mindfulness Week for students," which aims to help students relax and destress. Another tradition for the Honor Council is the Honor Assembly, where a panel of guest speakers is invited to discuss their own experiences with honor and what role honor plays in their own lives. The Council is also in the process of organizing a presentation for Maggie Walker’s Future Dragon Days this spring, keeping the members busy while working towards strengthening the community of honor.