Westford Academy’s freshman class of 2029 elected their first student government representatives on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
The four class officers are president Aarav Engineer, vice president Mia Weber, secretary Akshaya Rajendran, and treasurer AJ Agarwal. The freshman student council (STUCO) members are Srisarvani Bala and Hannah Glazier, and the new members of Student Senate are Aarohan Bhattacharyya and Kayra Duman. The class does not currently have a representative on the Student Advisory Committee (STAC).
The student government candidates meeting for the class of 2029 had an unusually small turnout compared to previous freshman elections. This can be partially attributed to the lack of broadcasting for the meeting on WABC, due to technical difficulties.
Initially, the communication difficulties resulted in no freshmen running for treasurer or STAC representative. However, once this information was given to all the freshmen, the gap was quickly filled by two candidates running for the officer position, though the STAC position remains empty.
The lack of students running for positions also allowed for all Student Senate and STUCO candidates to run unopposed, guaranteeing them a role. Only two freshmen ran for the three open positions for the senate. Similarly, there were seven seats for student council representatives with only two people running.
“There were only two people running for Student Senate, so I’m not too surprised that I was elected,” Bhattacharyya said. “I’m [still] pretty excited about being elected, though.”
The newly elected candidates have already determined a few goals that they would like to work on this year, including getting the class more engaged in school activities and events, making the number of tests students can take per day smaller, and collaborating more effectively with their peers.
“I’ve noticed that the freshman class tends to be overlooked in high school,” Engineer said. “I want to put my focus on hyping up [our class] a bit, [and] having more events to get ready for the next four years.”
The new STUCO freshmen representatives share a similar sentiment, with both Bala and Glazier mentioning that they are interested in facilitating club activities and events.
“As the year goes on, it would be nice to see more of the freshman class get involved,” Glazier said.
Regardless of their position, according to Engineer, all members of the class of 2029 student government aim to work amongst themselves and in their respective branches towards these goals.
“Congrats to all the other people that got elected,” Engineer said. “I look forward to working with all of [you].”
