The class of 2027 freshmen held their first grade-wide election on Wednesday, October 4 with Amelia Brown elected as president, CJ Hammond as vice president, Tanish Peddi as secretary, and Nick Vidoli as treasurer.
Including these four officer positions, nineteen people ran for different student government roles. Freshmen Raina Chatterjee, Maren Chungu, Krisha Gami, Caitlin Popelka, Ahana Sacheti, and Avery Votano were elected as the student council representatives. Ibsham Bhatra now joins the Student Advisory Committee, while Raghav Behara and Aarshia Bhattacharyya will be joining the Student Senate on behalf of their class.
All of these newly appointed members will reserve their position for the full 2023-2024 school year, with another election process at its end to determine the following year’s representation.
The advisors for the class of 2027 are biology teacher Madison Davick and physical education and health teacher Cory Brown. Both will follow the officers through their four years at WA and are excited to work with the newest members of their team to fundraise, unify, and plan an ideal high school experience.
“I want my class to look back at high school and just enjoy it. So I think a big part of our job as advisors is to make [the experience] memorable,” Brown said. “I just want to do everything I can to make it a fun four years. Different events and fundraisers and food trucks and just stuff to create excitement about the class.”
After a block presentation during homeroom explaining scheduling details, the freshmen who had already gone through the application process to become a part of their student government sat at the front rows of the PAC. One by one, students stood at the podium and delivered their maximum-of-one-minute speeches about why their peers should vote for them.
After this, students continued their homeroom period while making sure to submit their votes before a designated time. The results were then announced over the loudspeaker right before dismissal.
Amelia Brown spoke of her experience at her previous middle school, Stony Brook, both in ADL and the student council, and how these positions have shaped the leader that she has become. During her speech she also focused on her goals to communicate with students to ensure their wants and needs were met.
“I was honestly very nervous going into [the] elections. The other candidates are such wonderful people [and] I wouldn’t doubt for one second that they would make a wonderful class president,” Amelia Brown said. “I knew I had competition, but I also know I’m a qualified person who has so much to give to my community. My peers truly supported me so much during my election, and I couldn’t have done it without their encouragement.”
STUCO is a widely known group that focuses on school wide events, such as Homecoming, Spirit Rally, and Secret Admirers Day. All six freshmen that ran for STUCO got elected because the branch accepts six representatives from each grade.
Out of all the freshmen, only two ran for a spot in the Student Senate, a branch that focuses on improving “rules and standard operating procedures”. This group normally elects three people from each grade, but instead the class of ’27 will have two senators, Behara and Bhattacharyya.
“The Senate interested me specifically because it has a lot to do with student decision making, convincing the principal and administration that these are important and beneficial ideas, and listening to your classmates’ thoughts and opinions,” Bhattacharyya. “I think I’m a good fit for this position because I am familiar with several different groups of students in my grade, so hearing their input will not be a problem.”
Additionally, the Student Advisory Committee elects only one person from each class to work directly with the school committee to implement positive changes in regards to policies.
They hope to balance their ideas for field trips and fundraisers with the requests of their peers, furthermore enriching the high school experience. The officers and advisors aim to provide easily accessible outlets of input and information for their class.
“These are very important goals because everyone deserves to know exactly what is going on in their school community,” Peddi said. “If there is not an effective system of organization, people will not be able to know what changes are going to happen.”
Although the team of advisors and officers have yet to meet to discuss plans for the year, they will face their first official task on Friday, October 20, to plan the Spirit Rally. Classes must create teams for different events to compete against each other, while each group wears an assigned color. Moving forward, all four branches will work on sustaining different aspects of the school experience, with three more years of elections to come.
