Choosing Haven’s 2024-25 representative voices

With 34 candidates running for office, we asked the 2024-2025 school year Student Council candidates why the student body should consider voting for them.
34 Student Council candidates campaign to be part of next years Student Council.
34 Student Council candidates campaign to be part of next year’s Student Council.
Evelynn Lin ’25

From planning dances to sending out Google forms for student input in events to hosting events like Spring Fling, the Student Council leads year-round programming to ensure the Haven student body has a positive experience.

Starting April 30, Student Council election campaigns began once again—in search of the next Student Council to ensure fun inside and outside of the school building. 

Candidates filled the walls and the halls with posters of their campaigns and goodies to encourage the student body to vote for them. 

Student Council candidates must meet other requirements besides student vote to see if they are qualified for the role they are campaigning for. 

According to a slideshow made by the current Student Council president and vice presidents, seniors Lola Babin, Zane Malarkey, and Maddie Bonhomme, the process also includes: 

  1. Teacher ratings, where each teacher will give each candidate a rating based on their ability to lead and represent the school. 
  2. Turning in a bio and accompanying picture, the collection of which can be viewed across the main second-floor staircase. They create Instagram bios and advertise their campaign with posters that must be approved by the current Student Council.  
  3. A 10-15 minute interview with the current president and vice presidents, with a Student Council adviser, either Ms. Neeson or Herr Paul, also sitting in. Questions may include candidates’ strengths and weaknesses, changes they want to make, and what qualities make them suited for the position. 

The ratings and interview process are designed to determine candidates’ qualifications beyond Instagram postings and fliers around the school.

Voting opens on Monday, May 6, and closes on Wednesday, May 8. The new student council cabinet will be announced on May 13 at 3 PM. 

We asked every Student Council candidate why the student body should vote for them and their qualities.  

Mark Ball 26 for Officer
Mark Ball ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I’m involved in a lot of different activities, doing chorus and the musical. I did JV soccer, I’m playing for singles boys tennis right now, and I’m also doing some clubs, like The Panther Press, and I think I’m involved in a lot of different activities. I enjoy talking to people and hearing their perspectives and just making conversation with a lot of different people. I also think that I’m qualified for this position because I had a chance to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Conference this spring, and I felt like that opportunity has prepared me well for this position. I think it just taught me some leadership skills that I think I can apply very well to Student Council.

Leah Cohen 26 for Officer
Leah Cohen ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

Because I’m all about student spirit, and I’m looking to include the students more on information because I feel like a lot of the time they don’t know a lot about what’s going on at school. I want them to feel more safe and comfortable in their environment.

Morgan DeJarnette ’26 for Officer
Morgan DeJarnette ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think that I’m a great listener, and I think I have a lot of ideas to bring to the council. Not just that, but I love to hear other people’s ideas because I want to make sure that everyone’s voices are heard from the council, so I’m communicative. I think that I’ll be able to communicate people’s ideas into Student Council so that we can all see a school that we love.

Janet Huang ’26 for Officer
Janet Huang ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I spent my freshman year learning some of the problems that we’re having right now, and I think that I have good insights for what I could change.

Sophie Jackson ’26 for Officer
Sophie Jackson ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

They should vote for me because I’m involved in a lot of different activities, so I think I understand what it takes to be part of the Haven community, and I am very passionate and dedicated to my activities, and I know how to work hard to improve our student body.

Kathleen Kelly ’26 for Officer 
Kathleen Kelly ’26 for Officer 

Why should the student body vote for you?

Because I can help people with challenges and be the voice for them, and I can have free wifi without having the school see what you’re doing on your phone. I want us to have a late start time to school. 

Lila Martell ’26 for Officer
Lila Martell ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I believe I would be a great part of the student council because I want to help create a community where everyone feels heard. Whether through anonymous polls or workshops during lunch to hear student opinions, I think this would mean a lot to our student body. I have a lot of great ideas about fostering a more hands-on learning environment and can’t wait to share them. I want Strath Haven to be a place where we can learn and have fun, and as your Student Council Officer, I will make this my first priority.

Kaitlin McGuffin ’26 for Officer
Kaitlin McGuffin ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me because I want to make sure that everyone feels included and that they can always come to the Student Council to talk about their problems. I want to make sure that everyone is noticed in our school, and that if there’s a special event that’s going on, I want to make sure that those activities or events are noticed.

Madalyn Posternack ’26 for Officer
Madalyn Posternack ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

They should vote for me because I want everyone to feel involved and have a great time in and outside of school and just be socially active.

Maya Putty ’26 for Officer
Maya Putty ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me because it would bring a lot of diversity towards the Student Council community, and also since I’m involved in many extracurricular activities within Strath Haven, I have different perspectives in what people want and I can make change happen.  

Minori Saito ’26 for Officer
Minori Saito ’26 for Officer

Why should the people vote for you?

I think that from my activities–I’m involved in music, I’m involved in sports, and I’m also involved in clubs– that gives me a lot of different perspectives. I can see the ways in which I think the school can improve through a bunch of different lenses, and I think that that is really key to creating positive change from all angles.

Annika Slootmaker ’26 for Officer
Annika Slootmaker ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I feel like I have a lot in common. I’m pretty involved, whether it’s sports–-I just know a lot of people from that, and activities. I feel like I’m pretty diverse, and I feel like I have pretty good qualities through sports, through being a pitcher in softball. I know what it means to be a leader. I [referee] little kids too, so I feel like I’m a good leader and I have good qualities like that. I can be a good addition to Student Council.

Olivia Stransky ’26 for Officer
Olivia Stransky ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I’m really open to hearing other people’s ideas, and I also have my own ideas. I definitely want to include more stress-free activities that would happen outside of school, which I think we need more of. I’m a good people person, so I feel like people will feel like they can talk to me.

Robbie Valcich ’26 for Officer
Robbie Valcich ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think they should vote for me because I love our school. I hope to do great things, and I want to make it as memorable of an experience as I can for everyone else.

Anna Warley ’26 for Officer
Anna Warley ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think that I’m enthusiastic and that I can try to make every student’s voice heard. I want to be able to provide a safe space for students and I think that I could help everyone get their suggestions considered. I want to make this school a fun place. 

Vincent Zhu ’26 for Officer
Vincent Zhu ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think that I will be the best representation of the student body because I’m involved in many different parts of the school. I do speech and debate, I’m on the swim team, and I’m in the orchestra. And then also, as an officer, I’ll be sure to advocate for everybody’s voice and make sure that everyone is heard and that the student body gets what it wants, whatever that means. Whether it’s what you want for homecoming, or what you want for Frosh, or any of the other events, or if it’s student Wi-Fi, just anything you want to take up with administration at all, I’ll just be sure to advocate for it.

Dylan Zeitz ’26 for Officer
Dylan Zeitz ’26 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me because I’m involved with the community and being involved in the community, I’ve seen what Strath Haven needs and how to improve it, and I’m here to make everyone feel welcomed. I’m here also to add more fun events to the school.

Ben Milligan ’25 for Officer
Ben Milligan ’25 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me because I’ll be able to represent their voices very well. I want to make sure everyone is having fun this year, and I want to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and that everyone feels included this year.

Sebastian Reed ’25 for Officer
Sebastian Reed ’25 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

In my time as a student, I’ve seen all sides of Strath Haven, I’ve been involved in a whole bunch of different things, I’ve gotten leadership experience, all of that, and in my time, I’ve felt a little bit of disconnect between the administration and Student Council and the students themselves, and I want to provide a place where students can have their voices heard, have them get what they want done. I want to make Strath Haven a more positive place. I want to put some smiles on some people’s faces if I can.

Snehal Pandey ’25 for Officer
Snehal Pandey ’25 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think I represent the student body pretty well. I’m involved in school a lot and have good grades. I’m really pushing for promoting communication because of Schoology, and I want more people to participate on spirit days.

Devon Soeiro ’25 for Officer
Devon Soeiro ’25 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I believe people should vote for me because I’m very representative of the student body here. I’m very involved with sports. I’m on the Varsity Lacrosse team, I run Varsity Indoor Track, play Symphonic Band, people see me around in clubs, Spanish club, Haven Helps. I’m a leader in the Math League. In addition to that, I’d say I’ve got a lot of leadership experience. I’m the vice president of the local 4H Club, which is a service and community-based club, so I’ve got experience guiding people and making change, leading organizations and committees. In addition, I’m very committed to making change here at Strath Haven, so I’d be very dedicated to getting things done and just making next year a lot more fun, getting people involved, making sure that students feel heard and that what they want is the change that’s actually reflected here at the school.

Olivia Voshell ’25 for Officer
Olivia Voshell ’25 for Officer

Why should the student body vote for you?

I already have the experience being an officer because I was elected officer last year and have had a great experience with it. I’m a super hands-on and hardworking person, I am organized, and I have good leadership skills.

Casper Stockman ’26 for School Board Representative 
Casper Stockman ’26 for School Board Representative 

Why should the student body vote for you?

As school board representative, I’d be receptive to the interests of the student body and accurately represent them during the school board meetings. 

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 School Board Representative?

As a member of the Speech and Debate team, I spend my Saturdays public speaking, similarly to what I would do as School Board Representative. I’d be willing to engage with a student body proactively when it comes to what will be brought up during the School Board meetings. I listen to what the student body says, and I’m willing to devote all my time to being School Board Representative.

If you were to be elected, how would you connect the student and administration voice together to implement policies that everyone cares about?

In terms of policies that will be pushed for next year, it really has to do with whatever I’m approached with by the student body, but I think just assuming that the student body would approach me almost seems idle as a School Board Representative, which is why I would try to engage proactively with the student body when it comes to the reception to the library, etc. I would also push prevalent issues, such as mental health days, that are already known as issues that are felt strongly by the student body. As far as my own ideas, I think health is of the utmost importance to the student body effect, including mental health days and other miscellaneous health initiatives, such as water filters. Strath Haven also has some scheduling things that I think could be changed, including start times, which we’re seeing in Strath Haven studies, and from articles by the American Psychological Association and the National Institutes of Health. Also that we don’t align with the College Board’s AP schedule is a little silly. On top of that, there are just some environmental concerns, in terms of occasional Styrofoam plates and food waste.

Linden Corbett ’25 for School Board Representative 
Linden Corbett ’25 for School Board Representative 

Why should the student body vote for you?

I am basically the perfect representation of what it takes to be a Strath Haven student, and I feel like I’m a really good representation of what the student body is, but most importantly, I have a lot of great ideas. So first, I’m really interested in reforming SEL to make it slightly more interactive because I know that’s not always the case with SEL. I’m also pushing to really increase communication between the School Board and students because I know, especially on policies, like school safety and school Wi-Fi, and the safety implications of that, that’s not exactly clear as to why we can’t have better access to Wi-Fi. I feel like a lot of the safety measures that are currently in place aren’t exactly communicated very well to the students, as well as other decisions made by the School Board. 

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 School Board Representative? I’m extremely well-organized, and I have really good communication skills. I’m really easy to talk to. I’m very approachable, I’ve been told many times. 

If you were to be elected, how would you connect the student and administration voice together to implement policies that everyone cares about? I can’t exactly mandate people to care about things, but I can certainly make sure that they know what’s going on. So I know not everybody wants to sit through these hour-long School Board meetings and even like multiple hours long. So as a first thing I would do is I would create a kind of spreadsheet or summary, just like a newsletter type thing to send out to all the students to really make sure that the message gets across and what’s going on at the School Board meetings that are applicable to these high school students, as well as students in the district too. But furthermore, I would also really like to involve other students’ voices too, seeing as we can’t have everybody in the grades be representative. I would really be honored to be a representative of many voices.

Nathan Lin ’25 for School Board Representative 
Nathan Lin ’25 for School Board Representative 

Why should the student body vote for you? I feel like the student body should vote for me because I represent the school very well. I have a lot of ideas that I want to be able to bring and I feel like I have good communication skills with adults that gives me the best advantage over other candidates. 

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 School Board Representative? I feel like I’m a very responsible person. I’ll get a lot of things done, and I also have very good time management skills. I feel like when I do get assigned a responsibility, I can do them in time and do them in the best of my abilities. 

If you were to be elected, how would you connect the student and administration voice together to implement policies that everyone cares about? I want to be more interactive with the student body, so I want to have their direct feedback, such as through Google Forms sent out to everybody for them to fill out, maybe just questionnaires that we could ask, such as on our Student Council Instagram page.

Kaia Smith ’25 for School Board Representative 
Kaia Smith ’25 for School Board Representative 

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me because as a candidate, I’m both passionate and well-rounded, and I think those are very important things for the role. I think passion really comes with the idea that I would need to care about the issues. Especially if there was some adversity trying to change issues, I’d have to care about them a lot to make that happen. And I do, I care a lot about it. Also the idea that I’m listening to student populations’ views on things, I feel like you need to be very well-rounded and involved in very different things, and I think my involvement in both the academic side and athletic side, and even just deep appreciation and love for the music side and arts side of things makes me think that I would be a good candidate in that sense too. 

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 School Board Representative?

Partially passion, which I mentioned. I think passion is a big part of it. I’m very hardworking. It’s why I do good in the things that I do, it’s mostly hard work. I’m a good speaker, and not really afraid to share my mind and views. I feel like that’s something that you need to be–not necessarily confrontational, but be willing to be, if it’s necessary. 

If you were to be elected, how would you connect the student and administration voice together to implement policies that everyone cares about?

There is a level of just, you hear things, so I think there is just straight-up listening in your classes. Especially now that we’re juniors, teachers will complain to you about issues, and so will the students, and we will have class discussions. Yet that doesn’t necessarily get a comprehensive view, so I also feel like there would be some amount of trying to send out surveys, which is difficult, because people don’t always respond, but some people would, and there’s sort of issues like Schoology, parking spots, where everyone kind of views them in a certain way, and a survey about how people view an issue would be very helpful. And then, I think more my role in stuff is working with the School Board and then seeing how we can fix that issue. We have to make sure that we know what the students want, but then we have to make sure that me with the School Board could figure out a way to fix that.

Tianyue Wang ’25 for School Board Representative
Tianyue Wang ’25 for School Board Representative

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me for School Board Representative because I think I have a lot of experience in the space of Student Council. I was in Student Council as an Officer this year, I also have a lot of experience in public speaking from my diverse experiences in Speech and Debate, and I feel like I am able to connect very well with the student body because of how I interact with the school. I’m in a bunch of the musical ensembles, I play frisbee, and I think from Silvertones, marching band, and symphonic band, and SHUG, and my various activities, I think I am very well connected. 

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 School Board Representative?

So something that makes me qualified to be School Board Rep is that with all the activities that I do, that I’ve been involved with, like Symphonic Band, Marching Band, Silvertones, the Speech and Debate team, I am the perfect representation of what the student body looks like and so I think I have the experience to accurately represent the student body, and I think I can use myself to be their representative. In terms of public speaking wise, I am pretty comfortable with public speaking through being in Student Council this year, and being part of Speech and Debate, I’ve gotten a lot of experience to speak on ideas, so I can accurately represent my ideas thoroughly and accurately and present the ideas of the student body effectively and accurately. 

If you were to be elected, how would you connect the student and administration voice together to implement policies that everyone cares about?

I think one of the best ways is just communicating with the student body. Basically as School Board Rep, you have to be able to communicate with administration on what to implement. So I get to be the public speaker to share the students’ thoughts that are urgent, to provide to them the resources, and make them available, and I think that’s as important as, is this something that’s going to happen? What do you think the students have done, and trying to see what I can do to pitch in.

Kayla Brigandi ’25 for Vice President
Kayla Brigandi ’25 for Vice President

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think they should vote for me because I’m a strong leader, and I love giving back to the community. I volunteer all the time. I’m a leader not just outside of school, but also in school. I take a lot of initiative with my classes and with the activities that I participate in, such as the Mental Health Club, National Honor Society, I’m volunteering all the time. I’m in PA Math League, and I just love giving back to the community, and I feel like I would be able to connect the students with volunteering more and get them more into like that kind of vibe.

What qualities make you qualified to be one of Haven’s 2024-25 Student Council vice presidents?

I’m not the best public speaker, but I’m good with working for people, and I’m good at asking for help when I need it, so I wouldn’t just struggle on my own. I would talk to my peers, I would talk to the President, I would talk to the other Vice President, I would talk to the officers. I’m good at working with people, so I wouldn’t just say my opinion is the only one. I’m very good at being open-minded.

If you were to be elected, what ideas or initiatives do you have that you want to implement?

One of my biggest ideas is for Spirit Weeks, definitely creating some sort of Google form or something to where people can choose what they want to do for Spirit Weeks, like give them a couple of options, and then have a bottom for any other suggested options, and let the students choose versus just be giving the same kind of days. Same thing for football nights, having the students choose what they want the theme to be. That was one of my biggest ideas, having students choose so that more people were participating. One of my other ideas was holiday fundraisers. I’m not entirely sure what those would look like, but one of the ideas I was thinking of was holding a fundraiser for an Easter egg hunt for the kids in the area and surrounding areas. I was also thinking [of] a Christmas gift-wrapping thing, like not just donating, but right after we donated the toys, help wrap them too and donate those. Then also, I really want to try to get Relay for Life back. That’s definitely going to be a focus, trying to get Relay for Life, and then I would also make a Google Form for other students to submit any other ideas they had about fun events and fundraisers.

How do you intend to get them implemented into our community?

I would definitely talk to the President, the other Vice President, and all the officers to see who is into the idea, and then work with the teachers to try and set them up.

Jaden Spears ’25 for Vice President
Jaden Spears ’25 for Vice President

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me because I think they need someone with a diverse perspective in the executive council. I think I can look at things with a different eye, as in I wasn’t born in the district, but I have been accustomed to the district, so I can see the school both inside and out. I can look at the school in different ways, and that’s why I think I would be a good candidate. 

What qualities make you qualified to be one of Haven’s 2024-25 Student Council vice presidents?

I think that my communication skills are great. I’m not afraid to say what I want to say, and I’m a good listener. I’m always open to listen to anyone that wants to talk to me, making me a very approachable person, which I think can be good to be vice president, because as a role of Student Council, you’re really making the student body of Strath Haven heard. I think those skills are super useful for all of that. Other than that, though, I do think I’m a very good leader, I was previously a camp counselor, and therefore, I had to take care of kids, whether we were going swimming in the pool, trying to get them to not do dumb stuff, or even trying to get them to stop fighting at playtime, etc. I think I’m very attentive to detail, meaning that I think I will be very good with planning and fundraising events that I want in Haven’s future. 

If you were to be elected, what ideas or initiatives do you have that you want to implement?

If you’ve read my candidate bio, I talked about how different groups of people can feel cliquey in our school. Everybody has friends, but there are definitely cliques at our school. I think offering different events will get everyone to come together and show their school spirit. I also offer a different perspective as I haven’t been in this district my whole life, so I can think outside the box. I think we could do maybe our own personal polar plunge. I know we do that in Philly. Also, a Fall Festival, I think that’d be good, like Spring Fling was so fun, why not in fall too? We can do different stuff there. We could do Relay for Life again. I know a lot of people have been talking about that. I think that’s something that’s greatly wanted, and we should do that. And of course, these events are going to need fundraising, so I think partnering up with different sports teams or clubs will increase activity amongst our student body. We can do car washes, bake sales, etc. I think we can make school like a whole lot more fun. It’s not just practice, you’re gonna get involved, you’re gonna have fun, spend more time with your team and clubs, like outside of that work or practice time.

How do you intend to get them implemented into our community?

Getting this on board, I think we definitely have to talk to the principal, different teachers, there’s going to be adults involved, of course, so definitely getting the communication down, but also in this leadership role, taking responsibility for it. Definitely with communication, I’m on the track team, so I would probably start there. Recently, we did a popcorn fundraiser, where everyone had to raise money by selling popcorn. So I think we could do something like that. Honestly, just talking and asking and maybe like, we both benefit from the events, like we give a certain percentage for Student Council and a certain percentage for the team or club. I think doing that to fundraise will make things fun and equitable for both parties.

Madison Benzing ’25 for President
Madison Benzing ’25 for President

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me because I like to get things done. A lot of officers and people who are running for this position have a lot of ideas, but once I have an idea, I like to see what’s possible, and once I do that, I like to get it done. I had the idea of doing the paw prints, and I got that done within a year. If I get Stuco President, my idea would definitely be to get Relay for Life done because I know a lot of people want to get it done, and I think it’s possible to bring it back if I start now. I think it’d be really fun to have a community-building activity.

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 Student Council President?

I think I’m really good at communication. I participate in clubs, sports, and music here at Strath Haven, so lots of different people feel comfortable coming to me, talking to me, and sharing their opinion with me. Me, I feel comfortable being able to relate to them, so I think that’s really important about me, that almost everyone here at Strath Haven can have a conversation with me. 

If you were to be elected, what ideas or initiatives do you have that you want to implement?

[Beside Relay for Life] I definitely want to start getting game days more hype and get more people to participate. I’m thinking of giving people a gift card every day to the person who participates the best, just to bring some excitement and school spirit to the event because usually the spirit days lead up to important events, so that’ll help the overall event. 

How do you intend to get them implemented into our community?

I’m friends with Miss Gar, she’s a WES teacher, and she ran it before, and she had to stop because it was too much of a commitment, but I definitely think I could have conversations with her, get ideas, and have her mentor me to figure it out.

Matt Caputo ’25 for President 
Matt Caputo ’25 for President 

Why should the student body vote for you?

The student body should vote for me because I can accurately represent what every student in this school wants to see implemented, whether it’s more involvement in the pep rally, more involvement in deciding the theme in football games, more deciding in what games the student section goes to, I’m going to do my best to include my voice of every single student in every matter, in every event that the school has.

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 Student Council President?

I think two qualities that stand out to being Student Council President is public speaking and organizational skills… I think I’m going to be able to organize good assemblies, pep rallies, and meetings, and public speaking will play a big role in those three things, and I think that’s something that I have some experience in, just being the captain of a sports team, spoken at a couple of banquets, things like that. It has prepared me for the public speaking side of things. In terms of organization, I definitely stand out in my schoolwork and things that I have to do outside of school. 

If you were to be elected, what ideas or initiatives do you have that you want to implement? How do you intend to get them implemented into our community? One of the main things that I want to improve is the cafeteria does these fun food days where they have a little booth on the side, and so one thing I would want to do is have students vote on what they want to see served in that little part of the cafeteria. I think that could be a cool way for students to interact with the staff and let them know what they want to see. I think it [would] also create more bought lunches from students. Another thing that I’d like to see implemented is some sort of way to decrease the amount of talking during assemblies. Specifically, I remember, on International Day, just a couple of weeks ago, it was really awkward with how many people were talking and just disrespecting the people that had spent a long time performing, and I think implementing teachers standing in that area, or just spreading out the kids that normally sit in the area on the right, spreading them out to prevent the amount of talking that goes on during some assemblies. One other thing I’ll just mention real quickly is the parking situation. Obviously, I understand that not everyone’s going to be able to get a parking pass, but I think more communication between the administration and students would just create a better relationship and just give students a better understanding of why they’re not getting spots when there are open parking spots. I think a way I would go about implementing this is just open communication with administration.

Marcella/Ella Liberi ’25 for President
Marcella/Ella Liberi ’25 for President

Why should the student body vote for you?

I think the student body should vote for me because I want to make Strath Haven the best it can possibly be. I ran in this last year, I’m in Student Council now, but I really want the best for Haven. I understand that we’re so lucky to have the opportunities that we do, and I want to keep providing. I want your input, I want to understand what the student body wants, and I want to deliver that. We’re just so lucky to go here, and I want to make this experience the best it can be for everyone who goes here. You get 4 years, and I want to make them count. I’m going to work hard for you. 

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 Student Council President?

All of the other candidates are absolutely amazing, but I think that I’m really passionate about the school. I talked about in my first question, but I want the best for the school and what’s best for everyone who goes here. I’m really passionate about giving kids opportunities for things that they want, things that they want to see. I think that listening to the student body and delivering on what they want is super important because again, at the end of the day, that’s why I’m running because I care about the student body. I think that how deeply I care about is going to set me apart from other candidates.

If you were to be elected, what ideas or initiatives do you have that you want to implement? One thing that I’m really passionate about is working with administration and other teachers around the school to get more student artwork up in the building because right now, as much as I love the gray walls, I feel like we can do with some school-approved art work around not just for special events. I feel like it’s really important to kind of brighten up the hallway. I know we have that in Mrs. Plows’ wing, but I think expanding that out of the art and photography wing would really benefit the students. I want to work on improving communication between students and administration because sometimes I feel like there’s kind of a lag between what the students are talking about ,what we mean, what’s getting delivered, and that’s to no fault of anyone, that’s just purely a lack of communication. So I want to be the voice communicating with the people and what the student body wants to the administration to actually get things done that are important.

How do you intend to get them implemented into our community?

The biggest thing with anything is going to be working with administration, working with teachers, all that kind of stuff. Being student council president will put me in a position, like a prime position, to be doing that. So talking to teachers, talking to people, getting things approved, and making sure everyone accepts and is happy with every step that we go towards, that everything that we implement has to be widely accepted. That means positivity from students, that means positivity from teachers, positivity from admin, the principals, everybody.

Emily Lin ’25 for President
Emily Lin ’25 for President

Why should the student body vote for you?

First off, I have a voice that I feel can represent many aspects of the student body. I genuinely am predisposed to thinking the best of people, so my first instinct when I hear an idea is to consider the positive aspects of it. And also, I know how to get things done and get them done in a timely fashion. 

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 Student Council President?

For one, I feel like I’m very organized. I can speak for a large group of people. I’m very comfortable speaking to adults, so talking to Dr. Marseille, the superintendent, the principals, our advisors, calling people on the phone a lot of times for getting T-shirt forms in for homecoming, or getting food trucks for Spring Fling. I feel like I’d be able to get that done well. And also, I have assisted in the past where I’ve had to be tiebreakers for different sorts of debates. I feel like I’d be comfortable interjecting my own opinion, but also listening to both sides of the argument. 

If you were to be elected, what ideas or initiatives do you have that you want to implement?

So this year, I made a little baseline website for Student Council. There’s not much on it, but one of my goals for next year is getting resources for firstly, all AP classes, so like a hub for Quizlets, study resources, teachers could put times that they want to do things in there. I also want to also put resources for finals just in general, not just AP classes. I want to continue senior jeans because I think they looked really nice. Also, I’d like to get commemoration back in the amphitheater rather than the gym because I think the amphitheater at Swarthmore College is a lot prettier than our gym.

How do you intend to get them implemented into our community?

Because there’s such a wide range of people in Student Council, I feel like we could disperse some of the things. Like people have all different kinds of teachers, so they can each reach out to the teachers they’ve had. I feel like I could organize that pretty seamlessly. Talking about the amphitheater, I feel like that’s not a quick question for administration, but one that’s pretty straightforward. Like is this possible? Can we do it? What type of work would I have to put in to get it in the amphitheater? And yeah, just like overall organization and communication with the student body.

Josie Tolson ’25 for President 
Josie Tolson ’25 for President 

Why should the student body vote for you?

The students should vote for me because I’m someone who is very involved in school, I can advocate for a lot of different parts of the student body since I’m involved in the arts, athletics, and many clubs, and I care a lot about the school, and I want to make a lot of fun things happen.

What qualities make you qualified to be Haven’s 2024-25 Student Council president?

I would say my confidence. I know it takes a lot of confidence to run the pep rallies and get on the announcements every morning. I spend a lot of time on stage. I perform a lot, and it’s something that I’m comfortable with. I feel like I’ve definitely gained a lot of competence through that. I would say time management is something. I’m pretty busy, but it’s something that would be definitely a priority for me, and that I’m willing to work hard for. And reliability, I’m someone that you can rely on and come to if you need anything.

If you were to be elected, what ideas or initiatives do you have that you want to implement?

I would love to do a wellness day for students like the teachers just did. That seems like a big hit, so that’s something I would definitely want to do and something I think is really important. I would love to do a Special Olympics day with everyone down in the gym. I would love to do a back-to-school bonfire, a movie night on the turf, Powderpuff, a bunch of fun things.

How do you intend to get them implemented into our community?

I definitely learned as an officer that it’s not easy to get these things approved by the administration, but I think that pushing for something and really working hard for something is something I’m willing to do because I’m a student too, and I relate to the wants and needs of the student body and I understand what is important to us and what we want to get done. 

Leave a Comment
Donate to Panther Press
$415
$600
Contributed
Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of The Panther Press. Contributions allow us to cover our website hosting costs, continue to print new issues, fund staff training, and purchase equipment.

More to Discover
About the Contributors
Kaitlyn Ho '26
Kaitlyn Ho '26, Managing Editor of Web
Kaitlyn Ho is the current managing editor of web and the health and sciences editor of The Panther Press. Her first article was on the German Exchange Students. There was no turning back after that. She loves to learn about communicating complex science in simple ways, reading, dancing, artificial intelligence, and playing (badly) the piano and cello. Her future self can confirm that she will laugh at and enjoy every single thing her past self wrote.
Evelynn Lin '25
Evelynn Lin '25, Editor-in-Chief
Evelynn is a junior at Strath Haven High School, and this is her second year writing for the publication. When she is not busy on the ground taking pictures of fun events or grinding away at articles, she can be found listening to music, taking long walks, studying for school, dancing, making bubble tea, and hanging out with friends.
Donate to Panther Press
$415
$600
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

We encourage reader comments and opinions on the content posted on The Panther Press and its social media accounts. In order to keep the discussions aligned with the purpose of our student publications, we ask commenters to follow the following guidelines. 1) Different viewpoints and opinions are welcome, but comments must demonstrate respect. Profanity, insults, spam, personal attacks, bullying language, hate speech, and language demonstrating intolerance are unacceptable. 2) Comments will be managed by the Social Media Editor and Editors in Chief, with support from the adviser. Inappropriate comments will be removed. 3) On stories and social media, please keep comments brief. If you would like to elaborate on your opinion, we encourage you to submit a guest commentary or letter to the editor. 4) The Panther Press does not permit anonymous comments on stories posted to our website. All comment postings require a verified email address. Email addresses will not be displayed but will be used to confirm your comments.
All Panther Press Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *