Transitioning between school years is challenging, but changing schools entirely is a strange process. As high school begins, the opportunities to become more involved are more common. Freshmen have started to look for these opportunities, and many of them decided to run for a major leadership position.

Two of the most important parts of our community are the student government and senate. When it was announced that the freshman senate would be open to anyone who wanted to run, the Class of 2026 rushed to get involved. With this being their first chance to join student government, freshmen were eager to take part.

The four available positions for election were President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. As soon as the application was sent out, students rushed to start their campaigns. Physical posters, digital banners, and video ads were rapidly created and sent out.

On Friday, Sept. 23, the race came to an end as the winners were announced to the class right before the end of the school day.

The winners were Ryan Brown as the president, Luke Cessna as the vice president, Elliott Mathews as the treasurer, and Emily Chen as the new secretary.

Two of the candidates had been hoping for a shared victory so they could run the senate together. Both wanted to advocate for the same things and knew having each other would make a difference. This is why president Brown and his vice president Cessna decided to run together.

“I heard that Ryan Brown was running for president, and we’ve been together since day one, and I figured we’d make a great team,” Cessna said.

Both the president and vice president have known each other for a while, with their friendship spanning multiple grades. They both feel confident in the other’s abilities and backup each other whenever they can.

Though Cessna decided to run because of Brown. But, Brown had a different idea of why he wanted to aim for the leadership position.

“I had aspirations of becoming a student leader and making sure students have an equal representation, because I feel like- even with the senate, students don’t have very much say over any of the choices made by the board. I feel like we need more student representation,” Brown said.

Both Brown and Cessna have ideas for the senate and the school as a whole. Their main focus is making sure that students are given the opportunities to voice their opinions and their ideas when the district is faced with decisions.

“[One of my plans is] making sure that freshmen have representation in the senate. I want to make sure that freshmen feel heard and feel respected in the school,” president Brown said .

Brown wants to drive that plan home as much as possible. He decided to run because he noticed how little students get a say in things, especially when it comes to activities and big decisions.

“Ryan and I want to make sure that freshmen have their voices heard. We want to make sure we do the best job we can with organizing activities to make sure that freshmen really enjoy their high school year,” Cessna said.

The freshman senate plans to make this a great school year. With their positive outlook and high rate of approval, they’re determined. Every member has worked hard with campaigning, balancing their role with school and other activities, and starting off their term well.

As we dive further into the school year, we will hopefully see more of the freshman senate and all the things they have in store. With Ryan Brown and Luke Cessna as president and vice president and the treasurer and secretary being taken by Elliot Mathews and Emily Chen, the Class of 2026 can rest assured that they will be represented well over the coming year.