The Bowie Student Council elections took place on April 28, when students were emailed a link to submit their votes for class president. The candidates campaigned for weeks in preparation for voting day, from hanging posters on the wall, to speaking with students directly to encourage them to vote. Results were released the following day, and the Bowie presidential winners were, sophomore Jordan Butler and junior Carter Lax.
According the student council sponsor teacher, Alejandro Garcia, the STUCO election voting is multi-tiered using the student votes, teacher votes, and staff input. The candidates campaigned with teachers and then the presidential candidates went through an interview process on several questions about being president.
“The role of the student council presidents is important since they help facilitate the activities that we’re responsible for and in charge of throughout the school year,” Garcia said. “Their job is to be an extension of me, to know what I know, and they can help carry out all the different tasks.”
Leadership experience and involvement in school organizations played a role in preparing the candidates for the position. Both presidents said they hope to use their experience to guide the Student Council next year.
“I joined STUCO at the beginning of this year, I just really thought that I could do really well leading it,” Butler said. “I’ve been in a lot of leadership positions before, I was president of NJHS in 8th grade at Gorzycki Middle School so I have experience in running.”
Creating a stronger sense of community was a common goal throughout the campaign process. Improving the overall student experience was another focus shared by the new leadership team.
“I wanted to allow people to enjoy school more by strengthening the community and making what I can out of the experience,” Lax said. “Most importantly I want to act as the voice of the students to teachers and administration”
Strong communication and leadership skills were important qualities considered during the election process. School officials believe the new presidents will continue developing these strengths throughout the year.
“Both of our presidents have charisma and have strong ideals in wanting to be a leader,” Garcia said. “They’re very personable, friendly, and willing to grow in the ways of this organization will push them to grow.”
According to Butler, he wants to get a lot of feedback from students and teachers about what they can do differently and just make it easy to do. He suggested that Google Forms would be a good way for students to share their opinion about what changes should happen around Bowie.
“One of STUCO’s biggest problems right now is that a lot of people don’t know that the things we do are happening, ” Butler said. “I want to use social media, and hang posters in a lot of different places, like the athletic and fine arts buildings, because I don’t see as many there, and I feel like a lot of people will see them more in those areas.”
Increasing awareness about the student council activities is one of the priorities for next year. Efforts to improve communication across different areas of campus are already being discussed.
“They are doing a great job of communicating their plans with me, in fact, we have already had several conversations so far in the last couple of weeks since the elections, about what our plans are, what we’ve done, how can we make it better, how can we improve, what their vision is for next year,” Garcia said. “We’re already putting those ideas in place before this year even ends.”
Planning for the upcoming school year has already started through meetings and discussions about new ideas. Several goals and improvements are currently being considered before the end of the semester.
“Jordan and I will work together constantly to ensure that everything that comes from student council works to improve the school in one way or another,” Lax said. “We are going to work well together and be open with our collaboration.”
According to Butler, before they ran, they answered an interview question of who they would want co-president to be and they both said, each other. They didn’t plan for it, they just answered honestly.
“We work really well together, because we each have what we’re good at,” Butler said. “We both know the whole organization and we have the same vision of just constantly changing and trying to make STUCO the best it can be.”
The partnership between the two presidents developed throughout the election process and campaign season. Their shared goals for student council contributed to working well together.
“I decided to run for president instead of vice president because I knew I could have a bigger impact as president,” Lax said. “I’m glad I ran this year since I will be graduating next year, so I am excited that I can spend my last year leaving an impact on Bowie.”
As the school year approaches its end, attention is already turning toward plans for next year. The new student council leadership hopes to build on current ideas and continue improving student involvement at Bowie.
“We are constantly changing, and evolving, and just things are different every single year,” Butler said. “We are going to facilitate that, get to know everyone, and lead the program in the right direction.”
