Student Council Presidential Candidates:

Abby Alsup

Why are you running for student council president?

I’m running for student council president because I think that Bowie is a great school and have really loved going here, so I want to be able to make positive, lasting change on campus. I also have been really involved in student council for the past year, so I feel like I have a good idea of how to run it.

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues? 

I believe Bowie’s most pressing issues are students’ attitudes toward the school and the condition of the physical school building.

How do you plan on solving them?

While we obviously can’t do a whole lot about the building, I plan to work towards bettering campus by making stuco yard work more efficient and engaging in other activities such as painting picnic tables to make the school nicer. As far as students’ opinions on Bowie, I think that by bringing back traditions and fun events like Mr. Bulldog that people get excited about, we can help students enjoy school more and be proud to be Bowie students.

Laura Latt

Why are you running for student council president?

I want to make Bowie a place where everyone is excited to come to. I want to improve relationships between students and their teachers and faculty. I want to improve the atmosphere of Bowie and make it a place where everyone feels safe.

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues? 

I feel like many students don’t understand the importance of wearing their ID. I get it, it’s annoying, but it is an important factor for the safety of everyone on campus. I also see how people still destroy our property. I saw someone spit their gum out onto the carpet right in front of me. I also feel like we are not connected as a community. I feel like we can do more to appreciate our teachers and faculty. 

How do you plan on solving them?

I already have a plan on how to improve ID wearing. It involves a new way to wear them in a way where both students and teachers will be happy. Stopping people from destroying Bowie is difficult. We can’t change the mindset of people like that because to them they are enjoying it. However, speaking out on these problems can encourage people to stop it from happening. To improve faculty and student interactions, I want to have more school events. For example, we should have a holiday spirit week. In this event, there would be dress up days where students compete against teachers. The group that dresses better will get to participate in a raffle for a prize. Even though it is a competition between them, it would bring out the lively side in the staff and students. 

Elliot Bochey

Why are you running for student council president?

I am running for president because I don’t feel like I’ve had a significant impact on Bowie. I had half of a freshman year, a completely virtual sophomore year, and a half of a masked junior year. The realization that I have had an abnormal high school career has been on my mind all summer. This year I’m coming in hot and making sure all current and future students get the acknowledgment they need for academics, clubs, sports, and student-led organizations!

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues?

Bowie’s most pressing issues are the community’s divided responses to current school events. 

How do you plan on solving them?

With more support and recognition towards clubs and student events, there will be an influx in pride towards the common belief to “Bring Back Bowie!”. Growing up in the neighborhoods surrounding Bowie, I have been told stories of our school winning all sorts of competitions. I feel as if the pandemic has harmed Bowie’s competitive edge by limiting recognition of its diverse groups. I plan on making sure that every student and staff member has heard of our clubs, sports, and various school-wide activities so we can have a “better school for better students!” (my other campaign slogan).

Nirmiti Kerkar

Why are you running for student council president?

I am running for student council president because I believe that I can make changes to this school by working with both the student body and our staff so everyone can get what they need from this school. 

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues?

From what I’ve heard from students, some of our most pressing issues include not affording the school the respect it deserves (littering, stealing, etc.) and not having enough accessibility for students (elevator rarely works, not enough seating for lunch, people parking in the band lot and disrupting practice, etc.)

How do you plan on solving them?

I hope to resolve these issues by leading advocacy for changes in student behavior as well as speaking with staff about how we can increase lunch seating by getting new benches and/or re-opening seating in the academic halls.

Gabe Watts

Why are you running for president?

I have always tended toward being a natural leader. Last year, I decided to showcase this trait and was elected as student council vice president. I was able to lead my peers by organizing school events and taking care of the campus. It is rewarding to know that I am a part of improving the Bowie campus. One of my proudest achievements as VP was helping organize the food drive. I will always remember the looks on the workers’ faces as we showed up at the food bank with 5,000 pounds in canned goods. This experience allowed me to make a difference in the Austin community and encouraged me to continue to make a difference wherever I go. I would like to run for president for the opportunity to continue to make a difference in the Austin and Bowie community.

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues?

I believe that one of the most pressing issues at Bowie is the air conditioning units not working within the classrooms. I will attempt to solve this problem by addressing it at school meetings in front of higher powers in order to get Bowie the funds to replace them. Another issue at Bowie is the impacts left on the environment. 

How do you plan on solving them?

I feel that by following suit with the new fine arts building and replacing the paper towel dispensers in the academic hall with air dryers, the campus will leave less of an impact on the environment. I will also achieve this by addressing it at school meetings. Along with adding air dryers, I plan to launch a campaign in order to reduce the litter caused by Bowie students.

Jake Stachura

Why are you running for student council president?

I am running for president because I want to be able to help the students of Bowie and being president is the best way to do that. People need someone they can trust with their concerns about the school and I think that I can be that person.

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues? 

I think Bowie’s most pressing issue is a lack of communication between the administration and the students. Decisions the administration has made are unpopular with students. I think that we need a way to voice our concerns without them being dismissed.

How do you plan on solving them?

As president, I will be able to speak to Mr. Robinson and other important people at Bowie and the community where I hope to be able to voice the concerns of the students and create policies that reflect their needs.

Ally Chahda

Why are you running for president?

I am running for Student Council President in order to oversee the weekly meetings, successfully organize school events and continue to keep the Bowie community beautiful! I have fulfilled the Vice President position last year and am a diligent student who is not only willing to help my fellow classmates, but Bulldog Nation as a whole! 

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues?

Bowie’s most pressing issues include the lack of male initiative and upperclassmen restrictions, especially for the junior class. Although, specifically in Student Council an issue that can be resolved is the deficient supplies used to keep the Bowie community clean and beautiful.   

How do you plan on solving them?

I plan on solving the lack of male initiative by trying to communicate with the athletics, band and theater departments to try and recruit more individuals. Then, for the upperclassmen restrictions, the juniors are frustrated in being unable to go off campus. As a senior, I find it convenient with being able to go off campus and think that I can meet with the administration to at least give Juniors Friday to go off of campus. Ultimately, the Student Council’s poor supply issue can be resolved with donations from different clubs, such as National Honor Society or Key Club for individuals to receive hours who are part of these organizations.

Caden Laird

Why are you running for student council president?

I am running for president because I hold a lot of pride in the school and want my fellow students to graduate feeling the same. Last year, I worked as the Vice president of the student council, and this year I hope to take on new responsibilities within the school. I have shown in the past that I am capable of taking on such roles through my role as VP and my Achievement as an Eagle Scout. 

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues?

Bowie’s most pressing concern is the student population’s negative perspective of the school. Bowie has many positive aspects which are often overlooked by students, new state of the art facilities and driven role model teachers. However, over quarantine many freshman students were unable to appreciate and gain the same student pride of previous classes. A majority of this negative view was shown during last year, in which multiple fights broke out in the first month of school and students were upset because of the multiple events canceled due to Covid. Nearly 50 people in the graduating class of 2023 left the school.

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues? How do you plan on solving them?

This year, I hope to solve these problems by giving students as many opportunities and incentives as possible to help them regain their Bowie spirit. We will bring back many of the events canceled last year, including pep rallies, Bowie Idol, and the dodgeball tournament. Furthermore, I hope to introduce another event which will increase student involvement, another club fair during the Spring semester of school. Many students do not join clubs during the initial club fair, whether that is due to them still figuring out their new schedule or just not finding an interest at the time. The main problem with this is after the initial club fair there are not many opportunities to join new clubs, which is why I believe having a second club fair will majorly help student involvement. The last tool I want to give to the students of Bowie high school is an upgraded Community Blend Course. While events are often posted on Bowie’s Website, not all students check the website regularly, which brings me to believe that an upgraded version of the current Bowie community course would majorly benefit the student populace. In this new version of the course, I believe we would be able to give students an event calendar with times and locations to events around the school, which would allow many students to be able to plan in advance which events they would like to attend. This would also help another major issue in the school which is the lack of communication of events which causes many students to miss out on things like pep rallies and culinary food sales. Lastly, in this course I hope to give Bowie clubs an opportunity to open events to the general populace, such as if a club was going to have an event that they believe would act as a great way for students to become involved in their club. If they have the ability to post that event on the Community course calendar, new students may find it easier to join new clubs.

Jeremy Frey

Why are you running for president?

I am running for Student Council because I want to facilitate the change within Bowie. I believe there is great strength in numbers. This is exemplified by how we as a community pushed back against AISD’s implementation of a schedule negatively impacting both students and teachers. 

What do you believe are Bowie’s most pressing issues?

If elected I will do my best to find effective solutions to current issues. These issues are classroom temperature, stopping the budget cuts of our teachers and faculty, answering the confusion and discontent about ID badges, and administration-student relationships. 

How do you plan on solving them?

Firstly, most policies set up by the school usually come from the district but more oftenly are the state’s decisions. This doesn’t mean we are helpless to adapt. To cool down classes in the academic building, which are filled to the brim, we can make long term or short term investments. The quicker, being the short term investment, is to purchase fans and other cheap, effective cooling devices. The long term plan, being a multi-month or year long process, is to overhaul the air conditioning system throughout the academic building. This, unfortunately, will have a low chance of succeeding on its own because the district would have to spend more money, but the district values the opinions of parents over the opinions of its teachers. In order to make that happen, it would require a lot of parental support to gain a significant amount of traction. Next, we need to do what we can to prevent further budget cuts to our faculty. Budget has always been a priority of AISD’s. This often leads to budget cuts or finding new ways to save money, even if at the expense of the schools. Right now, AISD is attempting to lower the wages of our custodial staff. Underpaid already for their amazing efforts, working day in and day out, to make Bowie one of the cleanest campuses in Texas, we should not be reducing pay, especially being in the middle of a recession. Now, though an uneasy issue for most, ID badges are important. There are some questions surrounding IDs like: how do these really protect me, what’s the point, why must I wear this? Let’s clear the air. ID badges are for the purpose of identifying students, obviously, but they really help. After talking to many teachers, they’ve all said how important it is for a student to wear their ID and how easy it makes identifying a student. The ID helps teachers and administration easily identify active students. Many violent incidents committed on school property are actually carried out by those who do not currently attend or work at the school, so IDs are here to protect students. Lastly, I feel there should be more administration-student relationships. Yes, Bowie is a big school, but there is a lot of time for administration and students to know each other. I believe building student-administration relationships is critical because, by being able to understand and get to know one another, students and administration would have more trust in each other. This can be seen in student-teacher relationships. Trust is a key cornerstone in any relationship, being personal or formal. To build trust throughout all the levels of school leadership, Bowie can thrive and move forward. Trust in me, Jeremy Frey, to be your Student Council president. Trust that I will lead Bowie forward into a cooler and more temperate tomorrow.