Every spring, freshmen, sophomores and juniors elect four officers to represent their class in the upcoming year. On May 18, after sophomore candidates presented speeches to their class in the auditorium, an election was held at lunch. The next day the freshmen followed the same process, as did the juniors on May 21.
The newly appointed freshmen class officers are Abbie Silverstein, president; Adam Delollis, vice president; Jameson O’neill, secretary; and Alex Ramsden, treasurer. The sophomores re-elected Tony Shu as president, Jack Mckenna as vice president and Savitri Fouda as treasurer. The only new class officer for the sophomores is Kerry Harrington, who will serve as secretary. The junior class officers will remain the same for next year with Teddy Sevilla as president, Emily Zeytoonjian as vice president, Lizzie Mears as secretary and Matt Snyder as treasurer.
While each position has different responsibilities, returning president Tony Shu believes the most important responsibility of a class officer is to ensure class unification. “While class officers are supposed to be role models to the class, above that, we are their friends. Hopefully, we create an environment where people feel they can talk to us about anything and can trust us to create some great events that bond the class,” said Shu ’17.
For Shu, being a class officer is a very rewarding experience. He loves seeing classmates having a great time at the events that they have worked so hard to plan. “My favorite parts of being class officers are working with the other class officers and getting to meet people (both in and outside our class) that I normally would not get to talk to,” said Shu ’17.
Although the job of a class officer can be an exciting opportunity, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication in order to fulfil the many responsibilities. As treasurer, new officer Alex Ramsden is in charge of keeping track of all the class funds, along with collaborating with other officers in order to plan successful events. Ramsden however believes she has the qualities necessary to achieve success as an officer next year. “I am very responsible, hard – working, and good at listening to the ideas of others. I am willing to put in a lot of work to make great events next year. I’m very open to other people’s ideas, so if my classmates have any suggestions, I will bring them to the attention of the other officers,” said Ramsden ’18.
Ramsden decided to run for class office this year because she’s interested in a being part of the planning of class events. She hopes to help create events that will appeal to a wide variety of people. By taking suggestions from fellow classmates she hopes that everyone’s voice will be heard. Similar to Shu, Ramsden is looking forward to, “creating memorable events and fostering a sense of unity within the class”.
Newly elected secretary, Kerry Harrington, hopes her participation in clubs such as Student Unification Program, Student Events Committee and Key Club will help her leadership skills and event planning. Through balancing sports with school work and extracurricular activities she has developed time management and organizational skills that she believes will enable her to be a great leader.
By taking on a bigger role in the school community, Harrington hopes to plan more events and fundraisers such as a class car wash, class barbeque, movie night and class breakfasts/lunches. “My goal is to get more of our class participating and contributing in planning events and sharing their ideas in order to unify our class and make sure that nobody feels like they can’t share their ideas (or are too scared to do so),” said Harrington ’17.
Although junior year is a difficult year academically, Shu believes that “Academics shouldn’t overshadow what we can do together as a class. I hope we can continue to feel more comfortable with ourselves as well as our classmates. I look forward to planning major fundraisers and the final dance”, said Shu ’17.
(Louise Lynn ’17, Staff Writer)