The high school just finished up its class elections for the 2021-2022 school year. This year’s sophomore class will be represented by Emma Sutherland, Stella Tomayko, Bianca Horner, and Tristan Gardner. These newly elected officers say they are ready and excited to conquer the challenges that may occur, namely: planning fun events in a safe manner.
“As a sophomore class, we missed out on a lot of fun activities like dances and fundraising activities [due to COVID-19], but in 2022 we hope to bring all the great and super fun activities back,” said Tristan Gardner ’24, the only male officer.
The officers hope to start off the year with various fundraisers, hoping to raise money for an end-of-year dance.
“We are hoping to do the fundraisers in a game sort of way. We thought it would be fun to do activities like dodgeball and lawn games while also incorporating a food aspect,” said Emma Sutherland ’24.
Stella Tomayko ’24 agrees, adding that social interactions are important for the class to build a sense of community.
“Food is always a part of fundraising, but the social aspect is what really makes a fundraiser successful, that is why we hope to bring the community together through food and games,” said Tomayko.
While social food events and fundraising are at the core of this year’s plan for our school year, school spirit still remains at the top of mind.
“Social events are always hard to craft, and sometimes not that intriguing to high school kids, but you look at the success that the Senior Day has had, and it has given us a lot of ideas about what we can do,” said Bianca Horner ’24.
Senior Day is a day towards the end of the year where seniors get the day off from classes to play games like dodgeball, basketball, tug of war, and other team games. As sophomores, there is a long time to wait until pre-graduation activities like this, but school games are something the officers can model their class activities after.
The student officers also mentioned what their planning process could look like, and there was one very common theme: The Board of Health was very reluctant in approving plans.
“Due to the size of the groups who are participating in the events, the Board of Health has to get involved, and they are being strict. We had a lot of ideas planned for the 2020-2021 school year, but to our dismay, they were all shot down,” said Sutherland.
Along with the Board being a problem, the fundraising money was also an obstacle. Due to the fact that last year did not allow for fundraising events, the officers were forced to rely on the “school pot.” As freshmen, they got “last dibs” and by the time it was their turn to get some of the money, the money was scarce. This lack of funding prevented any events from happening at all.
Although last year presented many challenges for the officers, they are really excited for the new year and the new challenges. From barbecues to dodgeball, the officers are planning for this year to be the best year that it can be, given all the challenges.
“I hope that we can plan some events that everybody else will be just as excited about!”
About the officers:
Tristan moved here in 3rd grade from Wayne, Pennsylvania. He plays golf, and is a part of the DE&I student council, and is the only male class officer for the sophomore class.
“I decided I wanted to be a class officer after we had a big Zoom call with the entire grade in October of last year. Although the description was vague, the idea of representing my friends, people of my ethnic group, and my grade as a whole seemed like a lot of fun. The idea of working with the school administration and 3 other students seemed to be a valuable and rewarding experience, and it was. I was lucky enough to have been chosen by our class to be a class officer, and I have been a class officer since last year. I take a lot of pride in what I do as a class officer, and am grateful to have been elected again!”
“I am a very outgoing person who loves being around my friends and family. I play basketball year-round and My favorite school subject is English. I love roller coasters and traveling, and my favorite colors are neon green and bright orange.”
“I decided to become a class officer because I have always loved to be in a leadership role. I tend to become a leader in many situations and speaking out and using my voice has never been an issue for me. I am also very social and love communicating with my classmates. In addition organizing and planning, events are something I enjoy and look forward to in this upcoming year.”
“I’m definitely a pretty busy person, but some of the things I like to do are the sports I play for each season, especially basketball. I also am part of Wellesley’s National Charity League and am a president of the Class of 2024, which has already given me some experience in leading and organizing events and large groups. I moved to Wellesley in October of 2016, from Philadelphia and went to Bates.”
“Also, I really enjoy having a leadership role in my charity league, and a lot of the skills needed for that position overlap with those of a class officer. I also want to be part of our grade’s high school experience, and help make it as fun as possible! This will be my first year of being a class officer and I am super excited to join the other three from last year. I hope that we can plan some events that everybody else will be just as excited about!”