On May 20th, the Junior class voted for a new class council. They voted for the group to lead the 2022 graduating class their Senior year, which is undoubtedly the most busy and expensive year of high school. Many events such as fundraisers, rallies, after school activities and prom will be dictated by this council. The 2022 graduating class have had one-and-a-half years of high school experience cut out because of COVID-19 and they will want a big Senior year. As we all know, President Danny Ollerton won, and with 57% of the Junior class voting for them, over 30% more than the next group, this is the group that the Junior class overwhelmingly voted for. The following interview is a preview on what we should expect for the 2021-22 school year from the newly elected Student Council.

Danny Ollerton (President), Ian Fairfield (Vice President), Matt Molnar (Treasurer), Thomas Hoffman (Secretary), Karin Elsharkawy (Presidential Advisor), Ian Harrington (Head of Fundraising)

What will be some top priority goals for your group?

All: One of the top priorities is to make the biggest and best prom. We will make it as inclusive as possible, to ensure that every single person in attendance has a fantastic time. Another top priority is to bring back student sections in full force, especially since we missed out in 2020. 

Why is it important for this group to be bigger than the others?

All: It is important for this group to be bigger so that it is easier to delegate jobs as well as offering more perspective. I think it is most beneficial to have a group of guys from different parts of the school so that there are always new and fresh ideas. We want to make sure everyone has their say and is represented, and we do that through the diverse personalities within our 6-man group. 

What makes you better than the other groups running?

All: What makes us better than any other group is that we come from a variety of different courses, sports, and clubs. This way we can funnel ideas from our respective commitments to create a more holistic approach to creating the best senior year possible. We’ve been doing this for 3 years now as well, so we know the ins and outs of getting stuff done overall. 

Anything else you guys want to mention?

All: Class council for senior year will be run by an experienced group of guys, as well as cross and anchors, to deliver each of you a well-deserved, fun, and brotherly senior year.

How will your past year in office help you this year?

All: Being a part of class council for the past three years has allowed us to really get to know the inner workings of the school and how to run the council effectively. This way we can utilize everything at our disposal to make senior year the best year for everyone in the class. If we did not have past experience and tried to run the class senior year, we would most likely not be able to produce an extraordinary senior year.

How will you handle school events such as rallies where you will be expected to lead?

Danny Ollerton: Before the actual rally, the whole council will work to hype up the rally so that the student body is excited coming into it. I know I’ll have unique ideas for the rallies which will hopefully thrill the other students. During the actual rally, we may have multiple people on mics doing different jobs. For me, I’d like to interact with other students as I think I’m better at that than I am just speaking to the audience.

How will our money be spent?

Matt Molnar: We want to have a major come back from the challenges that the past years have presented with the pandemic. We feel like the best way to do this is through an awesome homecoming and prom. Those are going to be the areas that we put the majority of our funds that have been built up will go to. We also want to leave a mark on the school not only through the memories we had but through a class gift and to get one that will have a lasting impact on the school community is the goal. 

What will you both be doing to help aid the president in making the 2021-2022 school year successful?

Karim, Ian F., & Thomas: The most important way to support the president is giving him a fresh stream of ideas throughout the year in order to make this both a unique and exceptional class. This will mainly be accomplished through our other slate members, however, past years have shown that our executive council has been an excellent source of both fresh and innovative ideas as well as an on the ready group of manpower to execute setup and teardown for class events throughout the year. It’s also important to mention that, altho we’re all good friends, we’re all part of different friend groups and we’re confident that we can take into account the perspectives of almost all groups within the junior class. 

What are some ways you are planning to raise money for the class of 2022?

Ian H.: Fundraising for the class has actually been a really great experience because we generally try to do things that most people can attend. To coordinate an event, instead of just asking for donations, is a much better strategy in terms of creating a brotherhood and family within our class, which is what we have done for the past several years. For senior year, expect: 

• more food fundraisers where your weekday dinner supports the class (Chipotle, Canes, survey to the class of any other place that you guys would like, etc) 
• buy-in tournaments | games like Spikeball, 7 on 7 football, 4 on 4 basketball, etc 
• raffles with big prizes (PS5, $100 in cash or gift card) 
• dress down days 
• tailgates with food and “the backyard” for games (most of the time will not be for fundraising)
• Class events/ trips – 
  • pay 5-10 bucks extra for our class fund, then go to places like Main Event
  • Bake-off = bring your best baked good and enter (5 bucks) to be a judge to see who has the best baked good

Conclusion:

This winning group is very experienced and has some very reputable names. They are the group that has been leading us for the past 2 years so it is safe to say they know how to lead. A large group will allow them to have roots in all aspects in the school and their previous experience will allow them to get started quickly without having to acclimate. We should expect to have lots of after school events including tailgates and dances. They are planning to have a very big prom dance which could mean less spending through the rest of the year. They are planning to have lots of delegation in order to make sure that everyone has their say in what they think we should do, however this could mean that people who we didn’t vote for decide our events. 

They do have some very clever fundraising methods such as food fundraisers, like at Chipotle, and they also have other things planned such as a bake-off, raffles for gift cards or video game consoles, and sports tournaments.

Overall, this group seems to be very promising and will definitely be making sure that our voices are heard and we get what we want. They know what they are doing and will hopefully be able to get started right away in order to deliver the best senior year possible.