On Wednesday, Oct. 21, and Thursday, Oct. 22, students voted for their new State High Student Government and Student Senate representatives. The most competitive student senate elections were in the junior and sophomore classes, with 14 candidates running for office in the junior senate and 10 in the sophomore senate. The winners were announced on WSCH the morning of Friday, Oct. 23. These junior and sophomore members will now hold the senate seats in their corresponding grades.

Juniors

With 14 candidates running the competition was high, resulting in a tie for the position of vice president. The two vice president candidates are Brady Bendik and Mia Iceland. Iceland was re-elected, and Bendik was newly elected. The junior president, secretary, and treasurer have all been re-elected for another term. The junior class president, Nathaniel Sims, will begin his second term and has two main objectives for this year.

“If elected, I have two main goals I would like to accomplish. First of all, I want to set up a system where the students are able to vote on the type of events our senate hosts. The Student Senate is supposed to represent our class, and I think we can do more in this regard than we have in the past,” Sims said. “My second main goal is to come up with creative and fun activities and events that we can organize and host, while still maintaining proper COVID safety measures.”

Sims wants to prioritize keeping morale up and making sure that the students in the school are able to share their voice, a similar thought held throughout all of the other seat holders in the Junior Senate. Secretary Sydney Sebora also believes that boosting morale is a necessity for this year.

“Some small ideas I had and would personally like to see to boost school spirit is to host a non-contact and social distanced activity outside of school, like the football game drive-in, or a virtual event for other community members to boost school spirit,” Sebora said.

The football drive-in was a successful event that the school district put together for the one and only State High Little Lions home football game. Similarly, Kasie Hertzberg, the newly instated junior senate treasurer, wants events like the football drive-in to become a possible idea for the other annual events that will not happen this year.

“I plan on having more events similar to that [football drive-in] to watch all sports and performances. Especially in the spring I hope to have outside school dances and parades,” Hertzberg said.

The vice president election will be held as a runoff election now, and neither of the candidates have commented at this time. The other candidates of the Junior Senate, however, seem ready for this year and the possible challenges that await them.

Sophomores

On to the class of 2023 senate, with ten candidates running, only four have come out top. Ireland McDyre will be starting her second term as class president and is ready to unite the students more than ever.

“I feel like we can still do a lot of things we did in the past, such as spirit days,” McDyre said. “I also think an online game night or just a chat in general would be very beneficial to our school community.”

Vice president Lila Mathias, who will be working with McDyre, has similar goals to unite the students of the sophomore class.

“I know that a lot of students are having a hard time with all of the circumstances and changes that have become about as a result of COVID,” Mathias said. “So, I would make it my goal to make sure they’re enjoying the school environment.”

The two other candidates that round out the Sophomore Senate are secretary Ian Savitski and treasurer Dylan Davis. Savitski wants to have fun, while also making sure that all of the students are represented in some way this year.

“Even in a normal year, it is important for students to have a voice, but it is especially important now, when we can’t even all be in the same building at once,” Savitski said.

His plan for making sure that sophomores are able to feel united as one class is mirrored by McDyre, Mathias, and Davis. While Davis is new to the Student Senate, he still has ideas to help make this year special for the sophomore class.

“I will do my best to approve the most transactions I can that fit our budget and help the school out this year. I want to make sure we have the best year possible but at the same time not go over the budget,” Davis said.

Davis wants the class of 2023 to have the best sophomore year they can, even with the constricting situations, and alongside the fellow members of this senate, the ideas these senate members have posed all have a chance of becoming a plan.

The Sophomore Senate is complete and ready to represent the class of 2023. While Junior Senate positions are not fully decided yet, with the three confirmed members being returnees, the class of 2022 is in good hands. These senate members will have to go through a lot of obstacles to make this year great for their corresponding class, but with all of the ideas that are already being shared throughout the senates, the year looks bright for the juniors and sophomores.