By Claire Svetkey, Sanya Malhotra, and Alice Liu:
You’ve probably heard the term around school, especially around the election months. Maybe you’ve seen posters in the halls encouraging you to vote for some person or another. But what is student government? Is it just a popularity contest, or does it actually have a significant role? Highpoint has decided to interview some members of the student government in order to find out more.
Class of 2020
Caught up in our daily lives of school and an overload of homework, we forget about some of the important people who lead the current junior class. Most days, we don’t get to know their thoughts on important questions regarding student government such as their roles and responsibilities. That is why me, and other interviewers, met with a few representatives to receive a little context on who these people are and what they do.
For some, it was more of a rush of the moment concept of becoming elected. “It was a last minute decision, kind of spontaneous” said Kate Devitt, Historian of class of 2020. Though people may have doubts when becoming an unexpected recipient of power, you can learn how to “find a way to connect to my grade” as Chloe Park, Vice President, said. Chloe specifically had a passion for leadership, a big motive for her to pursue a position in school politics.
As being apart of student government, they acquired new, useful traits fundamental to acting as a leader. “Collaboration and brainstorming new ideas” were key to Anna Biondo, elected as Co-Secretary. Other essential traits included the efficiency to “communicate with all sorts of people,” Kate Devitt said, as in such a role one must be comfortable making conversation with unfamiliar students and teachers. Along with this, to “accommodate and compromise with everyone,” said Chloe Park addressing the evident difficulties in accomplishing goals without unanimous agreement.
Despite the labels that distinguish each of the fellow officers, each of the ones I interviewed said how these labels were almost irrelevant to their true responsibilities. As they said, “the names don’t matter much” and “we go outside of assigned roles” to be able to work as a self-sufficient team.
Some future events the class of 2020 Student Government are potentially planning include a variety for lovers of community, sports, and other fun activities. Chloe especially is “excited to plan junior prom," an event coming in 2019. Additionally, there is possibly a new “Kindness Campaign in February or March” mentioned by Kate. Essentially students can send letters of kindness to their friends and last year the money was donated to Rosie’s Place, a women’s homelessness shelter. Anna pointed out how she wanted to organize events to “raise school spirit”, such as a Basketball Tournament and an all-grade dance.
Some parting thoughts from the student officers for those interested in running are to “be confident and an advocate of yourself," Chloe says, but “be prepared for a lot of work and a lot of fun," says Kate.
These people clearly love to be leading the class of 2020 off until graduation.
Class of 2021
An interview with Edward Lee, Sophomore class president:
Why did you join student government?
I decided to run for student government because I really wanted to make a difference for the Class of 2021. I wanted to ensure that there would be lots of fun and class-bonding events for everyone – as well
as sufficient funding for later years.
What’s your role and what do you actually do?
Class officers have many responsibilities that cover a lot of aspects of student life at BHS. We meet every week to discuss and plan new events and fundraisers that would benefit the grade. We also cover some of the finer details – giving reminders on social media about school events and updates.
What have you learned from being in student government?
Serving as a class officer has taught me how to organize events, coordinate plans efficiently, and solve problems quickly (among other things). It is certainly challenging, but also extremely rewarding.
What past or future events have you done?
The sophomore student government is currently organizing a secret Santa for our grade to get everyone in the holiday spirit! We think that this is a great opportunity to bring our grade together. We are also looking towards a larger social gathering later in the year.
What do you want to improve about student government?
Overall, I think student government is an incredible bridge between the student population and the faculty and administration of our school. It is a great place to directly express our interests and concerns. As of right now, there is nothing extremely pressing that I would want to change about student government that comes to mind.
What advice would you give to people running for student government?
My advice to people who want to run for student government is to just be yourself! Express all of your
ideas and proposals, no matter how crazy they may seem to be. If students in your grade feel like you are eager to take on an officer position and work hard, they will likely vote for you.
Class of 2022
Why would anyone want to join student government at all? For most of the freshmen class officers, the decision to run was a spontaneous one. There was not real plan for what they would do if they won. Tiffany, the secretary, said that “it was just something cool," while Nia, the president, initially just ran for experience, not expecting to win.
But once they had gotten elected, these officers decided that they would actually do their best to
do their jobs. And what were those jobs? Well Nia, the president, says her job is to “make money, spend
money, and have fun.” Jeffrey, the historian, manages social media and takes pictures at all of the council events, like the recent pie in the face competition at the pep rally and the bake sale that’s being planned.
Through student government, the class officers have also learned a variety of skills. Nia has
learned to talk to random people and become more outgoing, while Tiffany has learned to better work
with people and accept different ideas. However, these officers also feel as though student government
could be improved a lot. One of the problems is publicity- no one knows about who they are or what they do. In addition, Jeffrey wishes that the student government is less about popularity and more about actually helping the class of 2022.
As advice for people looking to join student government next year, Nia says “Don’t be afraid to talk to people." She also recommends you run with a partner. Tiffany says to be nice and friendly to people, and Jeffrey says “Be popular”.