By Cole Finkelstein
Photo of Cole by William Braunig
When I voted for the sophomore class president back in May, I just voted for the people I knew, but I think it’s time to see what exactly I voted for. Now that assemblies are happening and Spirit Week is coming up, it’s more important than ever. Here’s a rundown of what I found out about your new grades 9-12 class presidents.
I was only familiar with my grade’s class president, so I wanted to know who the other grade presidents were. Marley Russell is the new freshman class president, Ciara Jones is sophomore class president, Piper Briuglio is the new junior class president, and Maya Galloway is senior class president.
How would the new leadership describe themselves in terms of personality?
“ I’m a very joyful person,” Ciara Jones, sophomore class president, said. “There’s never a time you won’t see me smile. I am also a cheerleader. I love the sport and welcome y’all to try out.”
“I just turned 17,” Maya Galloway, senior class president, said. “I came to the Willow School in 8th grade, and before then, I went to Lycee Francais.”
What about their motivations for running for class president last spring?
Russell said that she wanted to take on a leadership role, while Jones said she wanted to participate more in student life than she did last year. Briuglio said she knew she needed to take initiative when a leader was needed, and Galloway said she wanted to organize events like Spirit and Senior Weeks.
The presidents’ goals affect me personally, whether it’s through assemblies, Spirit Week, or other school activities. So, I asked the leadership exactly what exactly their goals were. . Russell and Jones had pretty similar goals, both wanting to give their grade a memorable year and good experiences. Briuglio said, “I want the juniors to win Spirit Week and have more class- and school-wide events, especially with Big/Littles.”
Galloway said, “ I want to attempt to unite our class.”
I wanted to dig deeper and know even more about how the choices of the people we elected affect me, so I asked them what their responsibilities were. Jones said a big one was making sure everyone follows Project Pride. She said it helped not only to keep people happy, but also to develop good habits for the future. Briuglio said communicating with your grade was another big one, and Galloway said presidents are required to attend meetings weekly. One thing each president said was maybe the biggest responsibility is planning Spirit Week, which certainly affects me personally as something I look forward to every year.
Lastly, I wanted to know what the presidents liked about their job. I was hoping it would give me insight as to how they would do for the rest of the year if their motivation took a dip or otherwise.
“Spirit week!” Russell said. “Every year it’s something new and creative, and it’s a great way for us to connect and compete with the rest of the school!”
Briuglio also said planning Spirit Week was her favorite part of the job, saying it was stressful yet extremely rewarding when it is all over.
“Planning assemblies and having the majority of people enjoy them is my favorite,” Jones said. “I definitely feel accomplished afterwards.”
Galloway said that her favorite part was “talking to my fellow peers, trying to get them to join activities, and being behind the scenes of senior events.”
From these answers, I can tell that our representatives are going to do a great job this year. It’s clear that they’re very passionate about planning assemblies and Spirit Week, making sure everyone has fun, and being a voice for each grade. With this in mind, I do think we made the right choices when it came to voting for our class presidents last spring.
