Malden High School elections are very important to the student body. People run in this campaign early in the year, to have the chance to raise money for prom and the decision is up to the students to vote for who they think is best fit for the positions.
The winners for this year’s Sophomore elections were Tenzin Shakya for Class President, Christine Nguyen for Vice President, Rodneisha Normil for Secretary, Keri Gilligan for Treasurer, Bethan Taddeo for Historian, Vivian Chen for Social Media Coordinator, and Olivia Santangelo and Julia Argueta for JV Coordinators.
Tenzin Shakya who re-elected as Class President, said he ran last year because “[he] thought [he] was the best person for the job and wanted to make a great impact on [our] class and make as much money as possible for an amazing prom.” He decided to run again this year because he feels that “[he has] done a great job and [he wants] to continue to share [his] ideas and skills with [our class] to work towards a common goal.”
Shakya stated that a class President’s role consists of “leadership and someone anyone can come to for help whenever, wherever and it also includes making money for the class so that [we] can have a breathtaking prom.”
He also said that he personally believes he can “communicate with the whole class and can provide assistance in areas some are more shy to approach. [He] thinks [he is] willing to do what most aren’t which is very useful to get what the class needs.”
Shakya added that before the loud speaker had announced the winners, he was “very nervous. For the Class President of 2019, [their] freshman president wasn’t re-elected proving it could happen to anyone, which gave [him] butterflies, but after [he] heard Class President followed by [his] name, [he felt] relieved and grateful. It has left [him] both speechless and deeply excited for the year to come.”
Christine Nguyen who also re-elected this year, won for Vice President and said the main reasons she decided to run again was because “[she] personally enjoyed [her] experience of being apart of the Student Council and helping to raise money for [our] prom with the other members.” This also being what influenced her.
Nguyen believes that her “organization and being able to work as part of a team makes [her] a good officer and contributes to reaching [our goal] in raising as much money as [they] can for prom. The anticipation of knowing the people who were running as well, made [her] nervous but when [she] heard that [she] won, [she] was excited to be able to work with the other officers and the class advisor, Caitlin Quinn, for their junior year.”
Rodneisha Normil did not run last year because she didn’t feel like “if [she] won, [she’d] be able to put all [her] time into it and [she] didn’t want to run for the wrong reasons.” She decided to run this year though because “[she felt] that [she was] finally ready to put [her] time and energy into something. But [she] mostly decided to run because [she] knew that being apart of the Student Council would be a great opportunity to connect with the wonderful class of 2020.”
Since the role as Secretary consists of “the organizational portion of the council, jotting down notes, keeping files or even scheduling school events and meetings, [she] feels [she] fits the position because of [her] leadership skills. Even just as Secretary, she plans to be heavily involved in everything the class does. Whether it’s in [her] job description or not.”
Keri Gilligan didn’t run last year “for the sheer fact that [she] was new to high school and wanted to have a smooth adjustment. [She was] trying to figure out the whole balance between school, sports, and extracurriculars, so [she] didn’t feel like it was the right time to run.”
This year, since she has decided to run, she mentioned she has “experience fundraising in the past and [she] is organized, which [she thinks] is crucial to having successful fundraising and class events. [She] is a very invested and dedicated person that only wants to make sure that [herself], as well as the rest of [her] class, are able to take part in fun activities.”
Bethan Taddeo also didn’t run last year because “[she] was afraid no one knew who [she] was.” She decided to run this year because “[she wanted] to be more involved in class activities. [She] also decided that [her] fear of losing shouldn’t stop [her] from running and this is something [she] realized upon watching many of [her] friends run for officer positions.”
Taddeo thinks she is fit for the position as Historian because she is “hardworking and committed to [her] responsibilities. [She] also enjoys taking pictures.” Taddeo hopes to “photograph the Class of 2020 at events so [they] can show [our] school spirit and even encourage more students to attend class events. [She wants] to provide new and creative ideas for fundraising, as well as fun surprises for [our] class. [She wants] high school to be an enjoyable experience for everyone.”
She also added that “Throughout the whole campaigning process, [she] was terrified [she] wouldn’t win and would be embarrassed. Listening to the results being announced, made [her] heart pound and [her] palms sweat. When [she] heard [her] name, a huge smile covered [her] face and as people congratulated [her] in the hallways, [she] felt so proud of [herself].”
Vivian Chen mentioned that she was “more dedicated” this year in comparison to last year. She ran for Social Media Coordinator last year but didn’t win and so she tried again this year and won. The reason Chen thinks she lost last year is because she “didn’t put as much effort into it and didn’t promote [herself] in ways that [she] should have.”
Chen thinks she makes a good candidate because she has “lots of experience with Social Media since [she] has been doing it since she was ten years old. Being a Social Media Coordinator may not seem like an important role in comparison to the others but it is something that [she] personally enjoys and to have the opportunity to show people what [she] can truly do and how much hard work [she] can put in, is amazing.”
She said she was “really surprised when [she] won. [She] wasn’t expecting it at all and [she was] in shock for a good ten minutes. It feels good to be the winner and now [she has] the opportunity to help the class and promote class events.”
Olivia Santangelo ran for Secretary last year and won but decided to run for JV Coordinator with Julia Argueta because she thinks that “Junior Varieties is a huge money maker, and as a musician and someone who is into Performing Arts and who loves planning and delegating, [she] thought that this was the perfect position for [her] to run for.”
Santangelo thinks that she is fit to fulfill this role because “not only [does she] have previous experience in being a member of the Student Council, but [she] is also a leader within her church planning events and overseeing activities for the youth. [She] also sat in a few of the JV rehearsals and got a feel for what it’s going to be like when it comes to [her] and Argueta to run JV’s, along with the other members.”
Santangelo and Argueta encourages that “anyone who has some talent, consider being part of JVs and to sign up when the time comes. Join JVs and support the class of 2020 by coming to the show next March.”
Overall, the Student Council is made up of dedicated, hard working members in who the student body has trusted upon to make new high school experiences as memorable as possible.
