Results are in on this year’s class representatives. The 16 newly elected students join the student body president and four senators elected last spring. Together, they begin Grant’s introductory year of a revamped government system. See what they have to say about their motivations and their plans for fulfilling their campaign promises.
Freshmen
Christina DePinto
Age: 15
Why did you run? I really think it is exciting to see changes being made that you have helped organize. I just think that I can help change Grant for the better.
Campaign promise: To be diplomatic and a good problem solver.
Why do you think you won? I thought I was going to lose, but I think my speech was convincing. I talked about qualities that would make me a good representative and I didn’t make a lot of promises that I couldn’t keep. Most people made promises and I didn’t really make any. So it was a little bit different from everyone else’s, I didn’t want people to think I was all talk.
What are your goals? I think that small changes lead to big changes and I am not really into promising things that I can’t deliver. One of the big things that I wanted do was put recycling bins in center hall and the main hallways because there aren’t any, and to increase communication between the student council and the freshman class.
The strategy: I need to go the office and get the kinks worked out of it and I think we can make that happen. For the communication part, just work with the other representatives every once and awhile, do a “State of the Union” type of thing.
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Finn Hawley-Blue
Age: 14
Why did you run? I thought it would be fun and it would be good for my resume. I was in a group called “Leo Leaders” at Da Vinci where we planned school dances, sixth-grade orientations and things like that. I wanted to keep doing that. Student government makes me feel like I’m doing something special. I like making change.
Campaign promise: I wanted a better freshman community. I thought of this thing I call “Freshman Friday,” which I want to change from a bad idea to a good one. It would be the first Friday of every month. There would be a movie, maybe popsicles. It would just be a way to get the freshman class together.
Why do you think you won? It’s kind of a popularity thing, but not that many people know me. Maybe they just really liked my posters.
What are your goals? I want to help. There’s not a lot I can do as a freshman, but I just want to accomplish something and feel like I made a difference at this school.
The strategy: If we needed money for projects, we could fundraise. And I think I can get money from student government for projects.
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Lilly Sasse
Age: 14
Why did you run? I wanted to improve Grant the best way that I could. I wasn’t really sure what to do as an incoming freshman so I went around and took surveys of the students from the freshman English classes and asked them what they thought I should do.
Campaign promise: My basic pitch was that I wanted to make sure all the freshmen’s voices were being heard, and as freshmen we can make a difference. I feel like freshman representatives have that reputation of not being able to accomplish much and I want to make that different.
Why do you think you won? I feel like I tried really hard in my campaign to make sure that everyone knew who I was. I feel like I got my name out there, you know?
What are your goals? I think our website should be improved. We should have an app for a smart phone, which I think will make it so people will want to attend athletic events. Tighter community, not just in our freshman communities. But in our freshman class because I think if we’re going to be here the next four years together, it’s important to get to know everyone.
The strategy: I’m gonna do research and get to know what it would take to get them applied to Grant. I’m gonna try to get as many people on board as possible in order to get them applied.
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Margaret Sherman
Age: 15
Why did you run? During the 2012 presidential elections, I was like: “This is actually really cool,” watching how it works. And the speeches were great. It was cool to see people get so moved.
Campaign promise: I want to have a better community. I promised or said I’ll try to get better recycling facilities, and get the Freshman Friday Reboot up and running as soon as possible.
Why do you think you won? Hopefully, people liked what I said.
What are your goals? To get better recycling facilities at Grant, get the Freshman Friday Reboot started, and clean up Grant dances so we can still have them.
The strategy: Finn Hawley-Blue and I have already planned out when we want to start the Freshman Friday Reboot. In student government, we’ve had meetings about meeting the administrators’ guidelines, as well as having fun dances.
Sophomores
Sadie Ainsworth
Age: 15
Why did you run? I am in the student leadership class, and running for representative is a requirement for that class, but I would have done it anyways. I ran last year and lost, but I really wanted to make a difference in the school, so I ran this year and won.
What was the main focus of your speech? Funny story, actually. I was at Outdoor School all week, so I couldn’t do my speech. I made a video, but the new gym doesn’t have any sound, so I had to remake the video with me just holding up note cards of what I wanted to say. I also had my friend, Claire Bacon-Brenes, say I few words for me. I guess the video was pretty effective.
What are your goals? One of my main focuses has been a street art project. I want to bring the community together, including students from Beverly Cleary, and make positive street art to make the community more beautiful. I also want to help transition the school into using more recycled paper, so we don’t waste the thousands of pounds of paper we use every year. I also want to encourage more school spirit here at Grant. I really want to pump up events like Spirit Week and Halloween.
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Olivia Bozarth
Age: 15
Why did you run? I ran because I think that I have a lot to prove, and we can make a difference in our school. I think I can help communicate within the student body.
Campaign promise: My platform was to increase communication. I want to create an app to help inform the student body.
Why do you think you won? Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to be elected. But I think I did a good job of communicating my ideas, and I think standing in center hall and talking to people helped a lot, too.
What are your goals? By the end of the year, I want people to be able to come to us; we want people to become more involved. The student body needs to know we’re here to support them.
The strategy: It’s really important we talk one-on-one to the student body and our meetings need to be face-to-face.
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Sprout Chinn
Age: 15
Why did you run? I’ve been involved in student council since fifth grade, and I’ve always thought it’s a really great opportunity for students to get involved in and we often don’t think about that we can have our ideas heard by the teachers. It’s a really great opportunity to get into leadership positions when we’re young.
Campaign promise: Bring the voice of the students. I’m representing the sophomore class, and my main priority is to get the sophomores’ voice heard.
Why do you think you won? I was very surprised to be elected. I think that I believe in my platform and I have a plan to carry it out, and I think that might be why.
What are your goals? I really want to work on having a more involved community at Grant. We don’t have many people at soccer games or football games. Let’s all be there at the games, cheering, and let’s become a more open and accepting community at school. We’re a school. We’re a family.
The strategy: I’m here to listen to people’s concerns. I’m more than open to listening to them and I think as student representatives we can set a good example by being leaders in the community and having a good attitude towards that. Let’s get more posters up when there’s games. Let’s make sure everyone knows about it.
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Caroline Williams
Age: 16
Why did you run? Student government this year has a lot more meaning to the school: you propose your own ideas, you get involved in the ways you want to get involved; it’s a lot less of the “dance machine,” as Mr. Gavitte loves to put it. We’re really working to make the school a better place, which is really cool to me.
Why do you think you won? I feel like I’m pretty involved in the sophomore class and I know a lot of the people. I feel like I put my face out there so at least I hope that the sophomores know… what I’m going to do.
What are your goals? My main goal throughout this year is to bring exchange organizations into the school and to fundraise and create a scholarship program so that people who wouldn’t normally be able pay to go abroad would be able to do that.
The strategy: First, I’m going to try by reaching out to those organizations and see if they have any interest in coming into the schools. Then, based on the interest I get from both organizations and students, work on setting up fundraiser ideas like small things like a car wash, fairs, talks… and then working up to something bigger. It really all depends on the feedback I get from how interested people are.
Juniors
Amanda Johnston
Age: 16
Why did you run? I was involved in student government last year and I wanted to keep working on the projects I had started, like getting lights for the field. Also, in kind of a weird way, I don’t want to have to depend on other people to get stuff I want done around Grant. I want to be able to help control and make an influence on the school.
Campaign promise: A lot of times I’ll say something and someone else will ask how I know when something is going on, and I’ll say: “Oh, because of leadership.” I want to connect the rest of the student body to leadership.
Why do you think you won? I worked really hard on my speech so that it would show all the work I’ve already done for the school. I didn’t want to have the speech that’s like: “Here’s all the things I’m going to do.” I wanted to show all the stuff I have done already.
What are your goals? Connecting Grant students to leadership so everyone knows what is going on. Also, having more school spirit. I’m a cheerleader, so I have to be at all of the games and it’s pretty disappointing when no one else is there.
The strategy: I don’t have anything concrete right now but something that is a little bit more interesting than the announcements over the phone. People just talk over them or teachers turn them off so people don’t actually get to listen.
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Ruby Joseph
Age: 16
Why did you run? You know when you’re little and you see those movies with teenagers and there is always so much talk about the class president? I don’t necessarily want to be that, but this year I got a chance and I decided to do something with it. I wanted to be more involved with the school.
Campaign promise: I want to increase communication between everyone and create a system that lets people know everything that’s going on.
Why do you think you won? I tried to make my posters really bright so people could see them and vote for me. I handed out candy to different groups at lunch. A lot of people were like, “Oh, you’re the Ruby from the posters,” because my campaign slogan was “Be a gem, vote for Ruby.” I tried to reach out to all different types of people.
The strategy: Possibly by creating some sort of e-mail system, like the Bulletin but for students. Also, I want to make the Class of 2015 page a more reliable source for information on happenings around school.
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Annie Willis
Age: 17
Why did you run? I used to be sophomore vice president, and I’ve been really invested in student government. I feel like I can actually help the class.
Campaign promise: A lot of candidates said this, but I want to equalize extracurriculars and equalize what the student body supports. Sports, clubs, extracurricular groups should all get more support.
Why do you think you won? I think because I act, I’m a good public speaker. I said what I was interested in doing, and I tried to come off as friendly. I think that now the elections are less of a popularity thing.
What are your goals? I want to improve the quality of life for Grant students, especially juniors, because that’s who I represent. I also want to improve the heating system because that seems like something everybody wants.
The strategy: It will take a lot of talking to people. You just have to keep going and always be doing something.
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Eddie Tellez
Age: 16
Why did you run? More than anything it was an experiment to see if people see me as a leader, if I could earn their trust.
Campaign promise: I said I would advocate for the importance of intellectual and artistic pursuits.
What are your goals? To start a petition to add more classes to the curriculum, classes people want to take. Me and my friends have talked about starting this thing called the Student Body, which would be like a student union.
To find out more about the fourth representative Eddie Tellez, click here.
Seniors
Luke Atherton
Age: 17
Why did you run? About two to three weeks into the school year, I decided that I wanted to be part of the government at Grant. I was interested in running, so I talked to Gavitte and he encouraged me to. He let me join the class. This is my first year being involved in the government system at Grant.
Campaign promise: I didn’t really make any specific campaign promises. I spoke about working to my full potential for this school and wanting to help the school as much as I could. I also want to make the school a better place overall.
Why do you think you won? I don’t know. I think it might be because I have a lot of relationships with lots of people. I know a lot of different groups at Grant and I’ve played five different sports over the time I have been at Grant. I’m in a lot of high-level classes but I was also in a community so I know people from those classes, too.
What are your goals? I guess I want to make some tangible differences at this school. I want to leave this school feeling like I’ve accomplished something. I know that AP classes are weighted and college-level classes are not. I want to change this to make everything more equal.
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Javon Carter
Age: 17
Why did you run? I ran because I want to make an impact my senior year. I want to make some changes in the school, see what I can do to be a part of that change. There’s actually two sides to it: just getting Grant to be a stronger community as a whole, and it looks good on the college resume.
Campaign promise: Community, Collaboration, Communication – the three C’s.
Why do you think you won? I think it’s my charisma. I have a lot of supporters and friends. And I think the icing on the cake was the song. I made some promises to people that I was going to sing a little bit, so I did.
What are your goals? To try to get people interested in what the government is doing… and for everyone to become more aware of what’s going on in the school.
The strategy: I need to start using Twitter. I’m not really a fan of Twitter like that but I guess I have a reason to use it now – just making myself available. So when people have questions they can ask me. Also, for me to be informed on what’s going on and making sure that no one’s in the dark.
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Madison Moskowitz
Age: 17
Why did you run? I really care about making Grant a better place, so I thought I would be the right person for the job.
Campaign promise: Dance reform. I just think that there’s a gap between kids that are really involved in Grant and kids that are not into Grant at all, and I think finding a happy medium where everyone can feel included can start with dances and spread.
Why do you think you won? My friends were challenging me, saying, “I want to know what you’re going to do to change things.” The night before I rewrote my speech, kind of directly said, “This is what I’m going to do for you.”
What are your goals? More spirit and student involvement in sports. I’m going to organize a carpool system so students have a better way to get to games that aren’t at Grant. Increase transparency in student government.
The strategy: I’m going to create a board in center hall or some other easily accessible location where students can say they have rides and offer people seats in cars to get to these games. I’m working to create a place where student government can talk directly to everyone and say, “This week, your student government did this.” We were thinking of having it up on the TVs or in one of the cases around the school.
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Luis Tzab
Age: 18
Why did you run? It’s my senior year and I really felt that I needed to leave an impact on my school. I’ve got a freshman sister and an eighth-grade brother, and I really want to leave them with a better school than the one I found.
Why do you think you won? I thought that I had a pretty good speech. People say that the elections are a popularity contest, but this year I don’t think they were.
What are your goals? My main goal has been student outreach. I want to get students in touch with companies that they have a lot of interest in. I would like kids to have access to high school internships.
What do you want from the student body? I want people to come to me with any problem. I really will voice their concerns. I want to be the voice of the student body.
