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WHS welcomes new student council

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Beginning in March and continuing into April, ASG held schoolwide elections for the 2019-2020 school year’s sophomore, junior and senior officer positions, as well as for the ASG board.

The ASG board officers are president Jeremy Garelik ‘20, vice president Kyle Huemme ‘20, secretary Alexa Gruener ‘20 and treasurer Miela Efraim ‘20. Their roles require their attendance of school district board meetings to inform the district of what the ASG class is doing.

Garelik will be in charge of leading the ASG class, coordinating events and discussing the ideas of ASG with the district in his position as ASG president. He hopes to become more involved in ASG and will focus his time as president on making the class a place for all students to become engaged and involved.

“Next year, I hope to make the ASG class run smoothly and efficiently, while still making sure that students can have their ideas heard,” said Garelik.

Huemme has been looking forward to being apart of the ASG board, and he finally achieves it as vice president. His ideologies center around being ready to lead as well as making the school a more enjoyable place.

“Our job is to make WHS a fun place to go to school and get the student body excited to come to class,” said Huemme. “Even though sometimes we know it’s hard, we just try to increase student activism and have fun.”

Gruener describes being secretary as the “face for organization,” and she says she’s up for the task. With tasks such as ordering supplies, recording meetings and keeping files, Gruener feels confident in her ability to be very “nit-picky with details and organization.”

“I want to make sure organization is maintained at a high standard,” said Gruener. “Especially because ASG is dealing with all of the student paperwork, it has to be correctly managed. Being on the board will also allow me to take part in decision making, and I am so excited to be an advocate for the student body.”

As treasurer, Efraim will be in charge of all aspects of the school’s funds by looking over the budget for all grade levels and reviewing it with the district and administration. In addition, her ideas focus on raising school spirit and hearing input from a range of ASG members.

“I want to find ways to match the school spirit at games and rallies to other community events,” said Efraim. “Being an ASG board member means working to foster an atmosphere of spirit and inclusivity at Westlake.”

The senior class officers are president Maya Groves ‘20, vice president Smayana Kurapati ‘20, secretary Cole Setzer ‘20 and treasurer Easton Krug ‘20.

Groves chose to run for president because of her interest in being informed. President gives her the opportunity to learn what is happening with her class, and she is looking forward to planning senior activities.

“I’ve always enjoyed being able to organize things and being a leader, so being able to have this position where I can showcase those qualities…it’s really important to me,” said Groves.

Kurapati looks forward to making the senior end-of-the-year events the best they can be for her class. She plans to accomplish this by using her position as vice president to help the president in senior class fundraisers.  

“This position to me was a position that I felt like I could make the most difference by using my skills to aid the president next year,” said Kurapati.

Setzer sees his role as secretary as key to ASG’s decision making process. Meeting notes will be utilized by ASG to help decisions moving forward. He believes that by working with his fellow officers, he can help to create an “exciting year” for his class.

“This position … allows me to be in close contact with the other officers,” said Setzer. “We will be able to work together and feed off each other to make sure plans come to fruition.”

Krug will focus his year on ensuring the funds allow for successful senior activities. Ideally, he would like fundraising to lead to affordable prom tickets for his class.

“This position means a lot to me to be involved in student government and [it] allows me to help the senior class more,” said Krug.

The junior class is comprised of president Amy Song ‘21, vice president Cooper Clemons ‘21, secretary Ivy Schlosser ‘21 and treasurer Eddie Nash ‘21.

Currently sophomore class president, Song will continue as junior class president out of her desire to be involved with the student body. She hopes to recognize the stressfulness that accompanies junior year and combat it. Her ultimate goal is to try to relax the students through spirit and excitement.

“I wanted to make sure I was able to help [the student body] out and be able to know more about them,” said Song. “Being president means a big responsibility obviously, but it also gives me a chance to try and get some creative minds.”

Clemons wants to use his position as vice president to gather support and spirit from the students of his class. He pictures strong fundraising towards prom as well as high-spirited rallies in the coming year.

“I have a great opportunity in this position to make good things happen for our class and ensure we have a great year,” said Clemons.

Schlosser is excited to take on the responsibility of junior class secretary through note taking and attendance during meetings. She enjoys being involved in the ASG class and is excited to be continuing as secretary. Her goals focus around creating a more organized ASG class.

“I like being involved as an officer, but specifically, [I chose] secretary because I was sophomore class secretary and I know how to do the job and everything that comes along with it,” said Schlosser.

As treasurer, Nash will be in charge of the junior class funds and spending as well as growing the number of investors and partners. Running for this position felt natural to him due to his talents in math, and he is particularly grateful for all those who voted for him.

“Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘Unrestricted individualism is the law of the beast of the jungle,’” said Nash. “As a student in advanced mathematic courses, I believe my specialization is best found in numbers.”

The sophomore class officers are president Kennedy Bunker ‘22, vice president Jillian Beer ‘22, secretary Kelsey Farhit ‘22 and treasurer Jacqueline Holtz ‘22.

Bunker looks forward to her year as president as she plans to share her own valuable insights on making school a better place with the sophomore class. She sees participation increasing next year as a way to raise spirit and funding.

“I have the power to change things that I could not before and to make sure everyone gets involved because to me, high school is such a better environment if you get involved,” said Bunker.

Beer has set her sights on fixing some minor issues in hopes of tackling bigger issues. She has noticed that senior prom funding is particularly low and spirit could be higher, so she took on vice president as a way to bring necessary change to the school as well as fulfill her desire to become more involved.

“I’m just super excited to be a part of the school more and change some things that could use some help,” said Beer. “I just think the whole thing will be a new and fun experience that will allow me to interact with my peers more.”

As secretary, Farhit looks forward to using her skills to prepare and organize her class for its senior activities as well as keep meetings efficient in ASG. She hopes that her efforts will “ensure we have a great next three years.”

“I love this position because I can use my strengths to apply it to our school and our class,” said Farhit. “It allows me to hold a bigger role in our class and directly help raise money and create a better future and environment for our class.”

Holtz plans to organize fundraisers at popular restaurants to ensure a steady flow of funds for her class as treasurer. She chose her position for her love of numbers and leadership, and she focuses on giving a voice to the students of her class.

“I’ve always been in student government since seventh grade, and I feel like it’s really my passion,” said Holtz. “I hope that if anyone has any ideas to make our class or our school better, then they can come to me and I can be a representative for them.”

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WHS welcomes new student council