Freshman elections held within first weeks of school

Freshmen hold class elections shortly after school year begins

The Friday after Labor Day, freshman class office held their first fundraiser of their high school careers. They sold boba after school raised over $100 to add to their class bank, the first of several fundraisers they will hold this year.

These kinds of jobs await the recently elected freshman class officers: president Derek Hsu, vice president Apurva Chakravarthy, secretary Cheryl Wu, treasurer Weilin Sun and class representative Esther Luan.

Unlike last year, there was not enough time for elections while the class of 2022 was still in eighth grade at Redwood Middle School. In upcoming years, elections commission hopes to hold elections while the students are still in middle school, elections commissioner Tarun Krishnan said.

According to Krishnan, there were 10 candidates for the elections. Out of the 342 freshmen, 227 voted through the online 5-star voting process before Aug. 22.

Many candidates campaigned through the end of their eighth grade year through Instagram. Chakravarthy said she mainly gained support by spreading her campaign picture via Instagram stories. Posters, visible in the halls around SHS during the beginning of this school year, were another common method.

Although Chakravarthy was not a part of leadership at Redwood Middle School, she decided to run for office because she wanted to help organize events for her class.

“My main goals that I have for class office are to organize fundraisers that will be fun for our class and to make sure that homecoming goes smoothly,” Chakravarthy said.

Similarly, Wu has not been a part of student leadership before, but wanted to contribute to her class after helping set up for the eighth grade graduation party. She hopes to continue helping the school through such planning and has a lot of ideas for class office this year, building stronger communication and leadership skills in the process.

Ultimately, the freshman class officers said they will try their best to guide their class through the first year of high school.

“With my other officers, we hope to help make the transition from middle school to high school much smoother,” Hsu said.