In the 2025-26 Student Council elections on May 2, Daniel Chang was elected as all-school president and Ty Quiles as all-school vice president.
83% of the student body voted in the election: 84% of 11th graders, 77% of 10th graders and 88% of 9th graders.
Daniel has served as Class of 2026 vice president for two years.
Daniel’s responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
What should students know about you as you step into your role as all-school president?
“I think what people should know about me is that I was on Student Council for the past two years, so I have an in-depth idea of the inner workings of Student Council and how it really functions. But in freshman year, I wasn’t on Student Council, so I’ve been on the other side. I didn’t really have that clear of an idea of what Student Council was really doing. I bring a diverse perspective as both a student and student leader into Student Council, especially going into this year.”
What lessons will you use next year that you’ve learned from your time on Student Council?
“I learned this year that leadership is about listening to others and then compiling their ideas into a plan moving forward. That means listening to other students when they have concerns about the school but then also listening to other Student Council members and combining some of their ideas, then figuring out how we’re actually gonna implement some of the ideas so that we can have strong, feasible plans. I think that’s the leadership that I learned this year, that I’m gonna take forward into this upcoming year.”
After previously serving as vice-president, how do you plan to take on the responsibilities of the presidency?
“The main difference between a vice president and a president is how vocal someone is in terms of their leadership. So, really the difference between the all-school vice president and the all-school president is that the president is the one leading the meetings and then leading the assemblies, which I think I have a lot of experience doing, especially with my background in Model UN and other involvements at school. The work of the VP in terms of bills last year was similar to the work of the president, and so I’m hoping that this year I can work closely with Ty, the new all-school vice president, so that I could transition into a really successful bill leader.”
How do you feel about the fact that the current executive board is all male-identifying, and do you see any opportunities to ensure diverse perspectives are included in Student Council decisions?
“Yeah, so when we look at the all-male executive board, it’s really easy to get this notion: this was only a popularity contest. I know the Midway article a couple of days ago was talking about how students need to keep Student Council accountable for their promises. There’s also this idea that Student Council doesn’t really do too much. I think moving into this year, one of my main goals was actually to kind of address that. With this new executive board, I think we have a diverse perspective in terms of some people are new and some people are returning, and so we can represent a lot of those ideas.”
Are there any changes or improvements you hope to bring to the school or student community during your term?
“A couple of the bills that I mentioned in my video and throughout my campaign were the idea of having certain dates where teachers have to put in grades on Schoology, because that’s definitely a big student concern across the grades. I’ve heard some of my friends complain about their teachers not having updated grades in Schoology. Then my second idea was to increase the seating in Gordon Parks because I’ve realized that the lounges and the library get cramped and overcrowded during lunch and free periods.Then finally, it was to allow any student, regardless of if they’re on the team or not, to buy sports merchandise.”
