Freshmen Royalty

Every year the high school welcomes a group of freshmen. Each class must nominate class officers to be in charge of fundraising and planning events for their class. They remain officers throughout their high school career. Recently, the class of 2021 voted for the individuals who they wanted to fulfill these positions.

Students can run for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. This year’s President is Jackson Dorty (9), Vice President is Meredith Iverson (9), Secretary is Hunter Scofield (9) and Treasurer is Justyce Ryder (9). The class advisors are Ms. Nicole Myers (Faculty) and Ms. Danielle Simchick (Faculty).

The candidates used different tactics to campaign in order to persuade classmates to vote for them rather than the other opponents that were running for the same position.

“Meredith and I “ran” together.” said Dorty, “We posted pictures and tried to get people to vote for us. “

They used social media like Snapchat in order reach many students in the school, and to draw in voters. Supporters of Dorty and Iverson shared their campaigns on Snapchat. Then like a chain reaction, their campaign was spread to the entire school.

“I have never ran for a student officer position before and it can kind of get stressful during the election because you don’t know if you’re ahead of your opponent or if you are trailing your opponent.” said Scofield.

The candidates worked together to rack up votes from their fellow classmates. However, the competition was easy for some and more intense for others. Some had to use their best campaign skills to try to out beat their opponents to win their position as an officer.

“It was definitely not easy, but I applaud my competitors for giving it their all.” Iverson said.

On the other hand, some claim they had an easier fight than others.

“I will say that it was not as tough as I thought it would be, but I’m happy that I stayed with it and became the secretary for the class of 2021” said Scofield.

A total of 10 students ran in the election.

When they are in office each person has a specific role that they play. Each officer does different jobs but they have to meet in the middle sometimes to get the task at hand completed.

The president is in charge of running meetings and will sometimes talk to the whole class about fundraisers and other events. The vice president supports the president, helps make decisions, and helps run meetings. The secretary records and takes notes during the meetings. The treasurer signs all withdrawal and deposit forms, collects and counts fundraiser funds, and writes receipts for cash payment that they have received.

Considering these tasks, what drove each officer to run for their position? They all have a reason on why they accepted the challenge of being a class officer.

“I really wanted to make sure that our class was set off on a good foot and everything went well,” said Iverson.

Some of the officers also are involved in activities that made them more fitting for the jobs that they must do as an officer.

“I thought the things I had to do as a secretary was a perfect position for me because with me being in Boy Scouts, I do most of the stuff that my position asks me to do,” said Scofield.

The team of officers are focused on making important decisions to benefit the future of the Class of 2021. The officers have many plans to help the class succeed. They must focus on raising enough money to have a good junior-sponsored prom and senior class trip.

“My plan is to hopefully help our class’ high school years to be memorable and fun, but educational,” said Ryder, “My goal is to have our class really push with the fundraisers so we are able to do more with our dances and/or senior trip.”

With difficult decision-making comes difficulties with coming to a consensus. The officers must not only try to agree with each other but also compromise with the entire Class of 2021. The advisors also help guide them in the right direction.

The Class of 2021 has already begun to start their journey to reach their goals. They just finished their Sunnyway Pretzel Sandwich fundraiser. As a whole, the class raised $2,337 from this fundraiser.

Each member will gain more experience as they go from freshmen to seniors in their officer positions. This is just the beginning for the freshman class, and they hope to make it a good four years by putting their best foot forward.