Theses five students are seeking votes for President of the Sophomore Class: Teddy Berente, Riley Gerard, Maura Green, Anthony Mendez, and Tyler Piezchala.

Teddy Berente

1. Why do you want to be an officer or representative of your class?*

I want to become an officer or representative of my class so that I can positively impact the student experience at Saint Joe. The people making decisions for the school need to be able to hear what the students want, and I am equipped to fill this role. There are certain things that I want to do as well that I feel would help my fellow students as well as myself (EX: clocks in the halls). Additionally, I greatly enjoyed the activities I got to participate in during my year of being a Freshman Class Representative, and I would like to take on more responsibility. I legitimately think that I am one of the best people to fill this role, and hope that I will be able to win the election and occupy this position.

2. What do you think the role of an officer or representative at Saint Joe should look like? How do you see yourself contributing to this leadership team?*

I think the primary role of an officer at St. Joe is to listen to the student body and make real change from their ideas. They should actively try to make a positive impact on Saint Joseph by showing up to and participating in meetings. I will go to every meeting I can, and will contribute something to the discussion that will improve the student experience. I will contribute to this leadership team by helping come up with ideas to make this school better. Furthermore, I will follow through with these Ideas and put in the effort and time needed to make them a reality. However, I will also be able to work with others on projects to create the best result.

3. What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing the students at our school today? How will you help the student face these challenges?*

I think that one of the most significant challenges facing the students at Saint Joe is a lack of school spirit. Many students don’t even know our school’s fight song, and they only go to a couple of competitive events if any. I will help increase this school’s spirit level by going to more events myself, encouraging others to go, and helping with dances. Another problem faced by the student body is that they can’t always know what time it is, or if they have enough time to go to the bathroom or get water without being tardy. I want to put clocks in the halls to counteract this. Finally, a major problem faced by the student body is stress due to academic rigor. I think that playing music in the hallways (like what is done during Christmas) could help alleviate some of this and lighten the overall mood of the school.

Riley Gerard

1. Why do you want to be an officer or representative of your class?

I want to be an officer or representative because I feel like I can lead this class to great things. Right now I feel like our class isn’t the most well behaved and I am going to try and change our bad habits. I feel like I can get us out of those bad habits by helping the class grow in the most positive way in the classroom and in the halls. I also want to engage everyone with everything St. Joe as well.

2. What do you think the role of an officer or representative at Saint Joe should look like? How do you see yourself contributing to this leadership team?*

I feel as if we should all be involved with the school. I feel like I can contribute by getting everyone involved with after school activities and other student council position

3. What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing the students at our school today? How will you help the student face these challenges?*

I feel like the biggest challenges are coming out of your comfort zone and talking to other students. I can help other students with that because I feel like I’m pretty out going and could help with with connecting with other students

Maura Green

1. Why do you want to be an officer or representative of your class?*

I want to be an officer to be able to grow personally as a leader and to create a feeling of unity between my classmates as a whole, as well as between the administration and the students. I feel as though I have a solid perspective as a student who was not involved with student government, and because of this, I know what I want to maintain and do differently while in this role. Additionally, I want to work with all grade levels to improve the St. Joe community, instead of strictly focusing on the rising sophomore class.

2. What do you think the role of an officer or representative at Saint Joe should look like? How do you see yourself contributing to this leadership team?*

I think the role of being president should include social interaction with a variety of classmates, including many questions about what they do and don’t enjoy in their school environments. I also think the class president should work cooperatively with the vice president and secretaries of their class and all other classes, which is a skill I am confident in executing. I see myself contributing to this leadership team by challenging possible weaknesses instead of avoiding them. This can come from input from my classmates that may feel like their opinions aren’t important enough to be considered, or from my own point of view as a student who was not involved in study government last year.

3. What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing the students at our school today? How will you help the student face these challenges?*

Today, I believe phone use is one of the biggest challenges our school faces today. Policies vary from classroom to classroom, and many students also believe their phones have been confiscated in unfair ways. To help face these challenges, I want to work with the administration to clarify rules about phone use, and to determine a compromise that allows for phone use outside of class, like passing periods, but to avoid phone usage when class is in session to avoid frustrated teachers, students, and administrators.

Anthony Mendez

1. Why do you want to be an officer or representative of your class?*

I want to be a representative because I have noticed in my class it takes a while for students to answer so I would answer unless I didn’t know what the answer was. I have heard many times from teachers that the class of 25′ has been the most disruptive they’ve ever had. I want to fix this and prove that we are  a responsible and respectful class. It very much disappoints me to see my fellow classmates act the way they do in high school. I was a bit surprised expecting a bit higher maturity level.

2. What do you think the role of an officer or representative at Saint Joe should look like? How do you see yourself contributing to this leadership team?*

I think an officer is a kind individual that also takes things seriously and is focused. A class officer helps others even if they didn’t ask for it. The complete there tasks fully and meet deadlines for the Student Government as well as all their class assignments.I see myself contributing to this leadership team by voicing my opinion at meetings, as well as having perfect attendance to all the meetings or events. I also see myself contributing by answering questions my classmates might have for the student body only if I know the answer (If I don’t know it then I’ll ask a moderator or higher class representative).

3. What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing the students at our school today? How will you help the student face these challenges?*

Balancing Sports/clubs with homework and teachers unable to work with students. I will help them by making sure teachers help their students when they ask for it and not delaying it. I will work to make sure teachers are understanding of students that are in sports so they can have an extended due date on assignments  (At least 1-2 Day extension). Some students arrive home late at night and unfortunately have to rush doing their assignment or turn it in late. This also goes for studying for tests, since sleep deprivation can dramatically change your test scores.

Tyler Piezchala

1. Why do you want to be an officer or representative of your class?*

   I want to be an officer in student government because I feel like I have the ability to hold this leadership role. I believe this past freshman year and having the opportunities of having a leadership role I believe I have what it takes to be the President for Sophomores. I also believe that I will gain more experience of being a leader that will help me in the future to become a very good leader. Becoming the President I will learn many things that I can use to help my classmates and the school to be a more welcoming and happy place for everyone that walks through the doors into the school.

2. What do you think the role of an officer or representative at Saint Joe should look like? How do you see yourself contributing to this leadership team?*

   I think the role of an officer should look as that they care for what they are doing. They should be dedicated to what they do and be confident on what they talk about and what they believe in. An officer should also be proud in their choices and be a strong leader. I see myself contributing to this leadership team by helping all students realize that they are all capable of performing great things and that they should purse these things to be an amazing person.

3. What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing the students at our school today? How will you help the student face these challenges?*

   I believe the biggest challenges facing students in our school today is the commitment of becoming a great and inspiring person. Every single human person has the ability to perform great things and they just need to find it. I can see multiple people who have the ability to perform great things but don’t pursue it. I will help these students face these challenges by talking with them in the garden that is planned for across the street. This garden that the science club is making, and that I’m apart of, will allow students to sit in a peaceful place and think about great opportunities that they can take part in.