Student Council elections for Student Body President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer and Senior, Junior, and Sophomore Class Presidents took place this Thursday. Winners were announced Friday morning.

Each candidate put in hard work for his or her campaign and were asked what their visions for CHS were in the upcoming 2019-20 school year.

Student Body President Maddie Dunlap (‘21):

“I intend to improve our Council and school by giving students the opportunity to voice their concern in both a private and public setting. Privately, through conversation, and publicly, by hosting a forum every 6 weeks in which all Cabinet members, advisors, and class presidents are present. I also intend on creating and pushing out a master calendar with all StuCo meetings and activities, so that every CHS student knows when and where they can voice their opinions to Council… You’re voice will be heard.”

Student Body Vice President Lilian Maynard (‘20):

“With our many accomplishments during the duration of Student Council 2018-19, we have made a significant impact on our community’s involvement. We have been strengthening our school spirit by the dance marathon and the changing of the awards given during Homecoming week and Winter Carnival. But some things I would love to amend are the way we treat other people and our stance on bullying. As of recently, we have been tackling this task, but next year I would love to take full action in advocating for the change. My way to contribute to this change is to continue the drive and determination to fully enact that particular way of thinking. Meaning possibly making posters, researching and collecting data, creating assemblies, fully committing myself to make the school a better place where, racism, discrimination and objectification is rarely, and maybe even never, an offense.”

Student Body Secretary Mallery Bee (‘20):

“I think that Student Council vastly improved its presence among the student body in the 2018-19 school year, and more students are aware of what Student Council is and what it does than ever before. That said, the student body still seems to widely have the opinion that Student Council needs to be more transparent and inclusive of everyone. Next year on Student Council, I hope to not only make myself more available to my classmates, bring their wishes to Student Council, and inform them about ways they can get involved from the outside, but also to find a way to make public the weekly happenings of Student Council for those who wish to see them. I know that right now our minutes are available to those who ask, but I think this isn’t widely known and I would like to have what we do even more available and publicized.”

Student Body Treasurer Niko Fannin (‘20)

“In light of Mr. Schilt informing us that bullying is a prominent issue at our school, Council has been discussing how to solve the problem. In addition to all the stuff we are discussing, like revamping Link Crew, I think a great way to start would be to change the way we, the members of the Council, behave. Everybody on Council is already an awesome person, and I think if we, as leaders of our school, went out of our way (many already do) to love other students, then it would help hurt kids, as well as encourage other students to follow example.”

Senior Class President Thea Higgins:

“Since freshman year, when I was just a representative, I often took on big responsibilities and took charge on a lot of tasks, simply because I truly enjoy Student Council and I want everything to be successful. It’s something I have always made a top priority in my life, and I always do my best to help out and go the extra mile, because Student Council means so much to me. Through these past three years on Council, I’ve learned an immense amount of leadership skills that would make me a great Class President. If re-elected as President, I will continue to fulfill my duties and strive to be a successful Class President for yet another year.”

Junior Class President Kate Vanderspool:

“One change I would like to see Student Council work on in our school is building a stronger connection among the student body. Students go to school with each other every day, and many have been together since kindergarten, but, as people change, they aren’t always as close anymore. I loved how the Mini-VictorThon brought everyone together for such an amazing cause and everyone had a great time together. I think Student Council should organize more events similar to the Mini-VictorThon throughout the year in addition to the dances. These events wouldn’t all be fundraisers like the dance marathon, but they would be just as fun and something that would bring people together.  Events like these bring all different kinds of personalities together to do and celebrate the same thing. This could spark new relationships or connections among classmates who might not have ever thought they would have similar interests or have something specific in common. Classmates see each other everyday, but they don’t really know each other. I believe that if everyone felt a deeper and stronger connection it will make school a better place.”

Sophomore Class President Michael Struk:

“The well-being of Chelsea students is a priority for me. I feel that Student Council should become more involved in working to explore and reinforce positive thinking and self-care. Being the Freshman Class President for the 2018-19 school year, I have figured out how Council runs and how changes in the school actually happen. Together with the student body, I want to make Chelsea High School an even better place for learning. I want to provide a means that is both safe and anonymous for students to give constant feedback to Council about things they care about within the school. This way Council can work with the student body and have it on a more personal level, and keep the connections and solutions relevant.”