After a week of campaigns, nervousness and anticipation filled the air. The votes, ratings, and interviews were in, and next year’s Student Council was being determined.
The selection process calculates and averages points from the three requirements: interviews, student votes, and teacher ratings.
“We do a ranking,” student council adviser and German teacher Herr Alex Paul said. “If they have the highest ranking from the teachers, then they get a one in that category. If they have the most votes, the highest interview ranking, they’re a one. Then we take that, and we do a third of each, and it averages out to another ranking, which is your overall ranking.”
The lower the final score, the higher the ranking, making a candidate more likely to win a position. Leadership qualities are also assessed, and no opinions are used to determine members.
“Because we do it mathematically, it leaves no room for any subjectiveness. It’s all pretty much in the numbers.”
— Mrs. Maria Neeson
“If they show a lot of leadership, or if they’re showing poise in the interview, things like that, those things equate to numerical conversions as well,” student council adviser and math teacher Mrs. Maria Neeson said. “Because we do it mathematically, it leaves no room for any subjectiveness. It’s all pretty much in the numbers.”
After calculations were finalized, on Monday, May 13, the 2024-2025 school year Student Council cabinet was announced on the Student Council Instagram and Strath Haven Activities Google Classroom.
Candidates received emails, determining if they had gotten their desired position.
“I was in Miss Shepard’s room studying for AP Bio,” junior elected School Board Representative Tianyue Wang said. “The email subject title didn’t reveal anything, it just said ‘update’. So I was really scared to open the email, and then I was really excited and immediately went to go call Linden.”
Junior Ella Liberi will be next year’s Student Council president. Juniors Josie Tolson and Madison Benzing will serve as vice presidents. Juniors Tianyue Wang and Linden Corbett are next year’s school board representatives.
The fourteen student council officers are Matt Caputo, Leah Cohen, Janet Huang, Emily Lin, Lila Martell, Ben Milligan, Snehal Pandey, Maya Putty, Minori Saito, Devon Soeiro, Olivia Stransky, Olivia Voshell, Anna Warley, and Vincent Zhu.
Junior Ella Liberi will be next year’s Student Council president. Juniors Josie Tolson and Madison Benzing will serve as vice presidents. Juniors Tianyue Wang and Linden Corbett are next year’s school board representatives.
Elected president Ella Liberi expresses her gratitude for being nominated.
“Everyone who ran, not just for president, but VPs, officers, and school board reps, was absolutely amazing,” Liberi said. “I’m so grateful to have this opportunity. Everyone that got elected, I’m so excited to work with.”
Current Student Council president senior Lola Babin feels bittersweet and excited to pass the baton on.
“I’m going to miss the responsibility of being like the student-admin liaison. I feel like I have been the voice of so many people, and it has been good making people feel heard and represented,” Babin said. “I’m excited for Ella because she had a lot of great ideas, like putting artwork up in the school. I’m excited to see the physical transformation and all the new ideas.”
As the 2023-2024 school year closes, the newly elected Student Council looks forward to initiatives that will improve the school community and enhance student life.
“One of the things I talked about was working on getting more artwork up on the school, emphasizing SEL days, mental health advocacy, spending more time talking with the students and the administration, and helping to create cleaner, better communication between everyone at Haven,” Liberi said.
“I just want to make Haven a better place. I’m looking forward to talking to administrators, advisors, other teachers, and just making the best school year for 2024-2025.”
