The results are in! After a tireless week of campaigning and reviewing campaigning posters across the school, the Class of 2018 has officially elected its officers who will serve for the remainder of this school year and for the entirety of the next school year. Over 25 sophomores ran for positions and eight acquired positions.
Re-elected as president and vice president are sophomores Manny Quesada Nylen and Blue and Gold member Anna Powers. Also re-elected is Social Media Coordinator Cindy Siu, and historian Meghan Yip, also a member of the Blue and Gold. New officers include Blue and Gold member Sam Martinez in the Helper’s Committee Chair, Thays Almeida as treasurer, Jasmine Gray as Secretary and Erica Perez and Calvin Cai as Junior Varieties coordinators.
Class advisor Katherine Haskell explained that “this year’s election was a lot different for [her] because last year, [she] didn’t know the students that well.” In addition, “[She] was a lot more invested this year because [she] wanted everyone to win since [she] knew everybody.” Haskell also believes that this year’s election was much more serious because “[students] are very passionate about Junior Varieties, and [students] really want to be a part of it, and everyone was really excited for that part of the election.”
In order to run for a position, all applicants had to submit an application that had 5 or 6 questions depending on the position. They also had to participate in several class events such as attend regular meetings and participate in the car wash that took place a few weeks ago. There are eight positions, but there are nine officers because there are two people that have the role of JV coordinator. One JV coordinator will be in charge of auditions and and rehearsals while the other JV coordinator is responsible for fundraising and serves a stage manager for the two shows.
The president serves as a spokesperson, organizer and overseer for the class and for any class events. The vice president encourages people to attend the meetings as well as develops fundraisers and posters to promote them. The treasurer is in charge of all budgets, the secretary takes notes on class meetings and keeps records of letters and people, and the historian takes pictures of class events and posts them on social media. In addition, the social media coordinator works with the vice president to promote class events through social media, and the helper committee chair recruits volunteers and ensures that everybody knows where and when to be for class events.
Haskell is very pleased with the results and “feels like [the officers] are a really good group of students.” She added that there were many people “who could have won and would have done a fantastic job as well.” “However, a lot of people have come up to [her] asking what ways they can still help and be there for the class. [She] hopes that they will stick around and still help out even though not everyone could win.”
Haskell believes that the Class of 2018 is in “a really great place and in a position to do great things. [She] is excited to start planning prom and for next year’s spirit week.” She stated that the Class of 2018 is a great class to work with. “People always tell [her] that the students are so polite and helpful, and [she] looks forward to continuing to work with them,” mentioned Haskell. With Haskell’s positive outlook and a dedicated group of officers, the future’s looking bright for the Class of 2018.