Eliza Doss, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

I would bring creative ways to bring our grades together, to get more student feedback, and to begin/continue conversations around issues in U-High. My main goal is to unite the student body through clubs/student groups, events and forums, so we feel more connected. Once we’re more connected, we can use our voice to advocate for the change we feel is necessary in U-High. I also want to make sure we feel connected during times like these, and we provide the necessary support to all students during and after this pandemic.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

If students ever have any issues or concerns I will provide the support they need and listen to their situations. I think it is important for students to speak up when there’s an issue, but sometimes that’s hard. I want to be a voice for students and provide more transparency between students and faculty. I will make time to set up meetings with faculty. I’ll listen to what our faculty have to say, but I will also advocate for the student body and their well-being. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I want to see a culture that is more accepting of everyone, and where hate speech isn’t tolerated. We need to learn that we shouldn’t say certain offensive words/sayings, but we also need to provide the education around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion both in and out of the classroom. We can’t expect students to come into high school understanding everything and changing right away. I will help work with teachers, administrations, and students to work on DEI education. We can’t rely on one group or person to change the school; everyone must be involved.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

During this pandemic, our stress has increased due to workload, college, and the coronavirus itself. While in quarantine, I will work with grade officers to make sure they’re still hosting events and posting on Schoology. I will also work with faculty and administrators to find new ways to reach out to students and provide the support. When we get back to school, I will continue working with the adults and students in our community to make sure everyone is able to adjust back. People will have concerns and questions, and I will make sure the students are heard.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

Especially during remote learning, student engagement is hard. However, I think Student Council should still host online events, and we should still encourage clubs and student groups to meet. I also think collaboration between student groups and advertisements will encourage students to stay engaged. One thing I’ve realized this year is that if you take the initiative to speak out or organize something, then people will join you. Students are very focused on school, but many students enjoy extracurriculars and student activities. Student Council, and myself, just has to make them accessible and easy to join.

An Ngo, Class of 2022

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

A couple of new ideas that I hope to implement if I’m elected is creating a students’ rights handbook written by and for students, making Student Council more accessible and transparent for the student body, creating an official space for non-elected students in Student Council and at meetings, creating a social content sharing platform exclusively for students and issuing standards for content warnings. All of these ideas are meant to help students take full advantage of the resources the school and Student Council can offer them. Another hope of mine is that these efforts will bolster student communication. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I see this position as a continuation of the work I’ve already been doing on the various councils/committees I’ve been serving on since freshman year. I’ve learned how to communicate student needs to both teachers and all sorts of administrators effectively in order for us to be listened to and our concerns to be addressed. As all-school president, one of the biggest privileges I hope to be able to obtain is gaining a deeper and more thorough understanding of the wants and needs of students as a body and on an individual level. In doing so, I can express to the faculty the needs of students whose voices might go unheard otherwise.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I don’t think U-High will ever be a place with much school spirit, and that’s alright. Our shared experiences are what define us as a school, not our colors or sports teams. I don’t think Student Council can or will create school culture, because it already exists. Student-led initiatives like Artsfest create lasting fond memories for students to share and have become quintessential to the U-High experience. I think we are defined by our authenticity and don’t need to strive for something we aren’t. This is not to say we can’t grow on what we have, but let’s embrace it and be proud of it. I will work to support more student-led events organized by student groups instead of focusing solely on promoting sporting events. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

During my time on the All-School Wellness Council, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the mental health and well being of students. I’ve realized quickly that U-High will never be stress-free. We are an academic institution that prides itself on excellence, and with that naturally comes academic pressure. What we can do to improve student well being is to re-evaluate what we value as a community. Is it mental health? Is it test scores and college acceptances? The key is balance and I believe I can help create that. The administration putting us on a pass/fail system is evidence that we as a school are starting to prioritize mental health over academic rigor.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

Events like Labstock have proved to be popular in the past and I plan on continuing and growing them. I want to make events feel authentic and sincere to students, even if the events are new. The reasons events like Labstock and Art in the Dark are popular are because they feel like traditions and students also want to support other students. I will foster these feelings in more events Student Council organizes.

Omar Siddiqui, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

I have two main goals that I will do everything in my power to see through. Firstly, I want to increase the voice of students in events, bills, and school-wide initiatives in the earlier stages of the process. By getting student voice involved early and heavily, we can really make initiatives for students reflect the ideas of students. Secondly, but I want to make a positive impact on Lab Culture that spotlights what makes our community special. This means encouraging us to build up one another and learn from each other’s mistakes; essentially, I want to make respect and a supportive community foundational pieces of Lab culture.  

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

Healthy communication between student and faculty is important in making Lab a better school for everyone, not just students. I think this is where my experiences will benefit the student body. I have engaged in many meetings with various coordinators, teachers and administrators; therefore, I have familiarity with the channels that will allow students to have the most effective communication with whoever they are interested in speaking with. Additionally, I would like to build off of an initiative I worked on last year, Course Review, to increase the amount of student feedback (which remains anonymous). 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

Lab already has a unique and amazing culture, and I would love to enhance it through working on making it more supportive. As a Student Council official for the past two years, I’ve heard many of the concerns of the student body regarding unhealthy competition and fear of being outcast based on one mistake. Therefore, making a culture that is supportive and allows room for mistakes and subsequent growth will be very beneficial to the school. I plan to do this through increasing mentorship between upperclassmen and underclassmen in addition to creating programs and forums (some of which are anonymous) that allow students to ask questions and learn how to navigate sensitive topics. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

Being in a school as rigorous as Lab makes it impossible to avoid stress altogether; however, giving students the tools to deal with stress in a healthy way and prioritizing mental health are the best ways to combat unhealthy stress. If elected, the mental health of the student body will be a priority of mine. Firstly, creating a more open dialogue between students and teachers on class workload will help make a more manageable homework schedule for students. Secondly, advertising and connecting students with many existing programs, such as those which take place in L&C, will allow students to learn a variety of time management techniques. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

In all honesty, school spirit at Lab is something that definitely needs a lot of work, which is exactly why it will be an area of focus for me. I think the best way to increase student involvement in events and dances is to get them involved in the get go, not just during the feedback stage. Through creating student focus groups for school-wide events, Student Council can make events that reflect the interests of its attendees. By giving students a voice in the planning process and utilizing more engaging advertising techniques, we can increase attendance and interest in school activities, which in turn will boost school spirit.

Adi Badlani, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

The central focus of my campaign is growing DEI work at U-High. We’ve made great progress this year combating central problems in our community, but the work is nowhere close to being done. If elected, I would work to expand the virtual forums already going on into DEI circles. Each circle would be composed of students from all backgrounds so students can be exposed to multiple perspectives. I’d also like to work on helping freshmen and new-to-Lab students get adjusted to U-High by creating a Student Council outreach network similar to the mentorship program established last year. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

Now more than ever, we’ve seen students have trouble communicating their ideas or circumstances with their teachers and other faculty. I’d like to start an online anonymous feedback system for classes if remote learning does continue by expanding Student Council’s Curriculum Feedback bill to account for each person’s circumstances. As a DOSTS and an Executive Board member, I’ve worked extensively on this bill and would like to see it be expanded. After talking to other students, I realize that now is the perfect time to start this because of everyone’s unique circumstances.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I think Lab has been defined by its competitive culture in classes and extracurriculars, but I’d like to see that culture shift to a more collaborative one. We need more open times and spaces to just talk to each other. If we do this, we’ll begin to realize that in order to achieve the best version of ourselves, we should seek out the best versions of others. We’ve made great progress with this by initiating gratitude assemblies and having the whole school unite for common causes in the past year, and I hope to continue these if elected. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

One thing that I would look forward to working on is collaborating with Learning and Counseling to prioritize social, emotional and mental health counseling through Student Council initiatives. One way that I’d approach this is by issuing anonymous online surveys to find out the main stressors for Lab students and working with L&C to help make arrangements, or even events, for students to destress from these specific areas of their life. This past year, I appreciated the increase of grade events that focused on just relaxing, and I hope that these can become larger, schoolwide events. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I think that our student body is naturally attracted to both collaboration and competition. Because of this, a cool incentive to approaching schoolwide activities would be having advisory competitions leading up to larger events. These competitions would increase closeness among advisories while exciting students ahead of schoolwide events. I would also like to work with the Spirit Council to get more students involved in supporting each other, and I’d like to reach out to U-High’s teams and clubs to see what the rest of the student body can do to support them.

Naomi Corlette, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My goal will be to amplify our voices and support individuals in our community. As All-School vice president, I’ll work towards a community where everyone feels included and welcomed. Online learning has proven more than ever how important our community is. As we finish virtual school and come back together, I’ll host activities and listen to students to maintain connections. I will work with the administration, and student lead groups to create a community where everyone is accepted and loved. This includes actively combatting racism, providing more resources for LGBTQ+ students, and helping people who are struggling academically or socially. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I will act as a liaison between students and faculty by increasing the accessibility for students to provide their suggestions. Currently, the Student Council has a suggestion box on its website, but I would like to post this more frequently on Schoology and Lab Facebook pages. Additionally, after significant events such as the racist incidents this year or school moving online, I would create forms with more specific questions to learn how to best approach the situation. I would also work with the wellness committee to communicate with faculty about how they can help with the health of our community.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I want to create an inclusive, welcoming, safe and supportive culture at Lab. I’ll advocate for student needs as the administration creates a plan for dealing with future racist incidents similar to those that occurred this year. I will work on a system of diversity education so that people can understand and grow from their mistakes and emphasize that we cannot tolerate hate due to someone’s identity. Additionally, as the leaders of our community, I find it important to communicate with teachers about how they can work against racism and other forms of discrimination.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

While I acknowledge that stress is normal, I believe that the excessive amounts of stress and anxiety that U-high students face is an issue. To help struggling students, I want to increase communications with the counselors, advisors, wellness committee, and learning coordinators and provide skills to manage stress, including workshops, suggestions for dealing with stress, and safe spaces. I also believe that a supportive community is key for stress management, which is why I will work to find ways to bring students together through fun events, especially with the new opportunities we are finding to connect with technology. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I would like to hold more opportunities for us to connect online and in person. I find that simple school activities like games and spirit week provide a great occasion to bond with others, and traditions such as these will be one of my priorities. Additionally, since so many of us rely strongly on social media, I will increase the scope of Student Council social media accounts beyond just advertising events. This will include highlighting things going on in the schools, hosting interactive polls, providing feedback forms, and sharing what is happening in our community. 

Hunter Tyndall, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My main goal while holding the position of all school vice president would be to increase comradire at the school throughout all grades. Even though we are a smaller school and the grades are already close to each other, I feel that there is a disconnect between some of the grades and fixing that would be beneficial to the whole highschool. One way this could be achieved is with more activities between the grades, like lock ins, and competitions between grades. Another goal of mine would be giving students more of a choice of what assemblies we hold each year. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I think a key part of building a relationship between students and faculty and keeping both sides informed on what is going on, is simply reaching out to students. From my own experience I can conclude that students don’t reach out to their representatives in student government as much as they should. Whether this be because they don’t want to or even if they feel like their voice isn’t valued. To curb this I would reach out to students and ask them what their ideas and opinions are on issues and other things we have going on in our community.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

As a school I want our culture to be one of camaraderie. I want us as a school regardless of grade to all be close to one another and use our relatively small class sizes to assist in that. I would also like to see one where students feel like they have a say in everything, whether that be what assemblies are happening, what grade or school wide activities we hold, or even what we are having for lunch. Giving students a voice is the first step to forming that schoolwide camaraderie.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

Being a realist, there is no way to make Lab a truly stress-free environment. We as a student body are far too competitive and driven in order to be truly stress-free, that being said there are ways we as a community can limit stress for students. One way we can do this is encourage students to find a member of the community they can talk to to explain what they are feeling and if warranted get the assistance they need to help solve those problems.  Another way we can do this is help instill good work habits. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

A way we can increase student engagement in school activities would be to give the student body a say in what activities are happening. A great way to do this would be to use the technology we have to poll the student body on what they would want to see happen at their school. An example would be the big assembly we have in Upper Kovler every year. The activities we do there have been the same since my freshman year, so getting new ideas from the student body would be a great way to increase interest.

Sara Thomas, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

The all-school treasurer oversees funding for events and clubs. I want to involve the parent community more in helping to fund our grade events, so we can organize inclusive and exciting events more often. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I am familiar and friendly with multiple people in the sophomore and freshman grades, and am known to be an approachable person. I will of course be open to any advice or suggestions from peers, who can contact me on any social media platform or with my phone number/email. The key to bringing ideas to the faculty is to be systematic and organized in the presentation and discussion of said ideas, so none of them are swept under the table or forgotten. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

The culture at Lab is unique, and at times fragmented, because of our individual academic, artistic, and creative drive. StudCo can mitigate this by taking an active role in making sure peers understand and respect each other at the very least. I want to make sure there are ample opportunities for students to highlight their peers, so we can make sure that everyone feels appreciated by their friends and fellow students. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

Right now, school is even more stressful than usual due to the uncertainty of the future of academics. I hope that involving students more in the administrative parts of e-learning (designing surveys, general decision making, schedule planning, etc.) could help mitigate the feelings of uncertainty that are so prevalent right now, and are a huge source of stress. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

Engagement in school activities is highly dependent on the accessibility of said activity. A successful school activity would be one that makes people want to come and hang out with their grade, regardless whether or not their friends can attend. I firmly believe that increased funding for events is a necessary component to allow Student Council more flexibility and creativity in planning successful events. 

William Greenstone, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

One idea I have is a fundraiser/drive to Chicago organizations helping with COVID-19 aid, such as Meals on Wheels Chicago (delivering food to seniors and people with disabilities) and the Hyde Park/Kenwood food pantry (part of the Greater Chicago Food Depository). I also think partnering with Ray School to help their kids in need of academic help could be a great community idea, and it could extend past the sophomore class’s service learning. My main goal as all-school secretary is to help our Lab and our greater Hyde Park/Chicago community cope with and fight against the effects of COVID-19.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I think I have a good relationship with a lot of faculty members, so I feel very comfortable communicating with them. My main goal concerning student-faculty discourse is to make sure that, whether we attend physical school or not in the fall, teachers hear their students’ concerns about workload and stress level, which are more important than ever during this pandemic. I also want to make sure that teachers are not overtaxed by students’ requests. I think with good communication, we can find the right balance of accommodating both groups in an unfamiliar learning environment.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I hope to see a culture that comes together to support each other during this difficult time. I also want to make sure that students do not find their lives dominated by the pandemic and can still have fun and connect with their friends. I think if the pandemic is still going strong by the fall, various virtual activities can cultivate school spirit from a distance, including creative ways of holding spirit assemblies and other events without crowds involved. Right now and in the foreseeable future, everyone in the U-High community needs one another.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

I will work to make sure that much of the above — student-teacher discourse, school culture — does not make any student’s life more stressful, but reduces stress as much as possible. I think things as simple as the positive messages our Student Council representatives post on Schoology go a long way towards reducing stress. I want to make sure that no one is overwhelmed by a school workload when there are much bigger things in the world to worry about, and I aim to do this by constant and open communication with faculty members and the administration. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I think in the increasingly likely possibility that we do not go back to physical school in the fall, I would suggest virtual activities that most students can participate in, like weekly Kahoots and various game tournaments that can be done online (8-ball, Connect Four, etc.). If we do go back to physical school, I think it is unlikely that large crowds at sport games and other events will be allowed, so I would try to set up viewing parties for those games.

Adrianna Nehme, Class of 2022

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My main goal is to better represent my classmates by discussing their ideas and concerns with the rest of Student Council and administration. One idea that I would like to explore further is to figure out what we can do as a school to ease the pain of the communities suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 virus. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

Since a goal of mine is to better represent the rest of my classmates, I think continuing with weekly surveys is important, even after we finish remote learning. Therefore, by doing this, faculty will be able to get a better sense of how students are adjusting to the class they are in as well as the workload in that class. During weekly meetings, we can discuss these surveys further and figure out how to approach the students’ responses. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I hope to see students walk into their classes every day with a smile on their face, excited to learn, as well as teachers, starting each of their classes with enthusiasm. I will work to create this positive school culture by continuing to establish more events that can occur more often around the school where both students and teachers can participate.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

In order to make school a positive environment, I think the first thing that should be done is to continue and build this relationship between the students and teachers. The student should feel comfortable and shouldn’t fear expressing their concerns towards their teacher. I also think we should implement more school events at the end of every couple of weeks where both teachers and students participate. This will allow for the positive school environment to remain while building these connections with the students and teachers. In addition I will work to make sure there are always open channels of communications between the students and teachers where the students can express their feelings about the workload and intensity and how it is affecting the quality of their life, and for the teachers to be able to give the students some feedback on how to better cope with the workload and manage their time. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I will try to keep the students up to date on all the activities that are ongoing by sending reminders and posting flyers when those are available. I will also ensure that the Student Council website is always up to date with the available activities so students can access it at any time and possibly sign up on the website to be a part of the activities. 

Andrada Nicolae, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My goals are to progress, promote, and protect the student voice and involvement within Student Council. In order to achieve this, I plan to implement a more consistent practice of communication with the student body. I hope to establish a (brief) monthly newsletter informing the student body about what Student Council is working on, make weekly minutes more detailed and easier to access, and announce the topics of Student Council meetings ahead of time in order to ensure students who are interested in a particular issue are able to share their ideas. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

It often seems as though the student body is disconnected from what happens behind the scenes; communication feels rare and unclear. I believe the best way to be a liaison, especially as the all-school secretary, is to create transparency between faculty and students. When something is discussed in Student Council with faculty, I will make sure all students are aware of it. Further, I will make sure to be an advocate for students. Ultimately, all U-High students’ ideas are important and impactful, and I will provide a platform for them to be shared. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I want all U-High students to feel welcome and included in our community and I believe that if people have their voices heard, we can implement change that will allow for this. If I am elected, I promise transparency between Student Council and the student body. I believe that if all students are aware of what is being discussed and are a part of the decision-making progress, we can both improve dialogue between students, teachers and administrators, and make sure all voices are heard. Further, I want to protect spaces for students to share their thoughts or concerns.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

Unfortunately, being academically stressed has become part of the culture at U-High. I believe we can combat this if Student Council works with administration and counselors to ensure student’s mental health is supported, as well as with teachers to ensure workloads are appropriate and balanced. Further, as for many students stress at U-High also stems from feeling unsafe or unwelcome, I will work to prevent discriminatory incidents by promoting conversations surrounding DEI, helping our community constantly work to be more inclusive, and ensuring hateful actions are met with appropriate responses. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I believe the best way to enhance engagement in school activities is through Student Council being more accessible. If the student body feels that they have an input in planning school events, not only will we gain new perspectives but we can make sure students are excited about events. Further, as it often seems like school events are not advertised far enough in advance, I plan to maintain a regularly updated – and easily accessible – calendar so that all students know what is happening and when it is happening. 

Peter Stern, Class of 2022

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My main goal as your all-school secretary would be to support the will of the student body and to do whatever I can to impact the Lab community for the better. I believe that improved communication, especially during these difficult times, is essential to constantly improving the student experience at Lab. Additionally, by making sure that Student Council’s resources are used to support the will of the student body we can ensure that student events are more accessible and appealing towards all of Lab’s students.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

To act as a liaison between the student body and the faculty I will work to gain an understanding of what’s best for the student body and then stay strong on what’s important to us as a high school. I think we should establish new channels of communication between the Student Council, the student body, and the faculty using strategies from remote learning. This can be done by completing more surveys for the student body, updating students on Student Council’s progress more often, and coordinating with faculty and other members of the Lab community more often. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I want our school culture to be fun, positive, and supportive. We all know that a Lab can be a pretty stressful environment, but support from our community will make it a lot easier to get through challenging days. To do this, I believe that Student Council should hold a variety of events targeted at bringing us together as a community while reassessing current Student Council events to make them more accessible and appealing. Additionally, I think we should use the competitive nature of the students here to push everyone to do their best. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

I will work to make U-High more of a stress free environment by working through partnerships between school counselors and Student Council. Providing accessible and appealing programs and events to address mental health issues and stress we can teach students to manage their stress more efficiently. This can be done by assessing the student bodies specific stress management and mental health needs and then taking action to fulfill them. Also, by creating optional peer connect and mentoring programs between grades students can connect with students who are going through similar things such as family related issues. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I believe there are three ways for Student Council to improve engagement at events. First, events should be planned to be appealing and easily accessible for students with limited free time and busy schedules. Next, the Student Council should start planning events earlier to allow more advertising so that students know about the event and have time to make room in their schedules. Advertising can also be improved by having advisors tell their students about the events in advisory. Finally, the Student Council should use surveys and the direct student voice when planning events to ensure that they are what the student body wants.

Noor Asad, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

Through my three years of being my grade’s Cultural Union officer, I’ve come to understand how Student Council works and all the logistics of planning events to bring the community together. I’d like to apply this to creating new opportunities for showing school spirit to foster a sense of community such as year-long competitions between grades for prizes, like spirit wear. I’d also love to bring back spring formal! My main goal is to build a strong sense of community within Lab in order to bring everyone closer together and make high school a positive experience for everyone.  

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I will help encourage an atmosphere of cooperation between students and faculty by listening to students’ needs first and foremost. In engaging in dialogue with the student body about their concerns, I can act as a voice for students and as a bridge between students and faculty. As a member of Student Council, I have more opportunities to communicate with faculty members, and the ability to facilitate meetings with them. I believe that in order to ensure change in our community, there must be efforts made in both the faculty and students. I will take advantage of my role as a Student Council representative and make sure I incorporate the information and introduce the ideas conveyed to me.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

As all-school CU president, I want to combine my knowledge of student council with what I’ve learned through my two years as a Peer Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Facilitator. With some of the struggles we’ve faced as a community this year, I think it’s extremely important we focus on encouraging a culture of inclusivity, where we are not only relying on reactionary measures after the fact but preventative measures to ensure that people do not have to experience acts of hostility in the first place. I plan to work to make sure that school is an environment that is flexible and open to supporting all students’ needs by incorporating more dialogue through enjoyable school events and other forums for discussion as well.  

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

High school is a stressful time for all students, and as all-school CU president, I want to work towards ameliorating that stress. I see dances, spirit assemblies, and school wide events as ways for everyone to feel a part of a larger community, which will encourage people to be more open and communicative about struggles and also increase empathy between all groups of students. The U-High community has experienced a lot of challenges in supporting everyone from a mental health standpoint and creating a better sense of community would initiate a domino effect where people are comfortable enough with each other to make the changes we all want to see happen. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I would like to increase the student body’s engagement by ensuring that students are included in decisions about activities and events to be held, and everyone is given the opportunity to provide feedback following these events. If they are able to help choose for themselves, they will be more likely to attend and boost turnout. If the Student Council plans events catered to the student body’s ideas and feedback, then I think we’ll have a lot more people joining school activities and events! 

Destiney Williamson, Class of 2021

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

An idea I want to be implemented is bringing back a spring fling! That is something my grade and the grades below me have never experienced and want back. Also, I would want to implement a better social media presence for StudCo and the Lab community because I feel that could be really helpful. Some goals I have are trying to implement student voice better into the dances through music or theme recommendations for dances and events as well as getting higher attendance to the dances.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I will listen to what students have to say and set up meetings and discussions to be able to share any ideas or constructive criticism. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

The kind of school culture I hope to see is to actually have students excited about school activities and the dances. I hope to do this by attempting to up the hype by talking to students about their ideas and increasing advertisement. Also, by bringing incentives for spirit weeks leading up to big dances.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

We all know that U-High will never be stress-free, but I hope to be able to minimize this stress by talking to teachers and administrators when students feel increasingly overwhelmed by workload and continue with student feedback forms to help students communicate directly with their teachers.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

As I said previously, by talking with students and having a better communication system between stud co and the whole student body. Also, I hope to have a greater social media presence to help strengthen that communication.

Aman Arain

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

One thing I’m particularly interested in accomplishing is working with the administration to implement more direct and clear repercussions for insensitive activity around the school. While each instance of this behavior must be treated thoughtfully, there must also be a standard protocol in place when dealing with issues like these. I would also like to create more opportunities to better the wellness of the students at the school. While hard work and dedication are important tools to succeed, emphasizing health and wellness of students will help to end our U-High careers together on a high note.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

Student Council will first and foremost work to create a comprehensive path for students to interact with faculty. I believe that not only is it our job to communicate with them, but to allow for ease of communication between faculty and the rest of the student body. I believe that streamlining the communication process will allow for better relationships between students and faculty members. I have built strong relationships with many faculty members throughout my time at U-High, and by implementing such programs we can surely do the same for the rest of U-High.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I’ve been a member of the Lab community for almost my entire life, and I have seen countless issues around the school, especially concerning DEI. While I’ve loved my time at Lab, I haven’t always felt like I belonged. If elected, I hope that I can help cultivate an environment that makes every student feel accepted. The social issues at Lab are some of the most damaging elements of the school, and I think by working to alter the culture, we can assist in alleviating some of the stress and depressive forces that have plagued the community.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

While stress is an important piece of hard work and dedication, I believe that the mental wellness of the students comes first. Our school counselors have been a fundamental resource to help reduce stress for students, but fundamentally it is the unique culture of U-High that makes it so stressful. Academic and social stresses escalate each other, horribly damaging the mental well-being of students. I believe that by working to create programs that help alleviate social stresses of isolated cliques and academic pressures that have restricted sleep and other essential practices, we can create a better U-High for the future.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I think the most important events to increase participation in are events centered around the well-being of students. There are numerous events throughout the year organized by student groups aimed at educating the school on various issues, and I think better publicization of these events will be key in increasing the well-being of students. We can better do this by placing these events in a higher priority in the daily announcements and using Student Council resources and social media to promote such events. This will undoubtedly increase the turnout at U-High events such as these.

Mikaela Ewing

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

I would like to bring the Senior Class together by further connecting and supporting the grade in school and on social media. Especially promoting the interests and accomplishments of my classmates. Furthermore, seeing as we missed out on some of the arguably most important moments of our junior year I would like to explore revisiting the opportunities we missed, like retreat, and creating new traditions like a Senior Class carnival or an obstacle course. My main goal is for students to feel excited and comfortable in a school setting. We already highly value “standard” educational values, but I would like to see more emphasis on individual interests and practices. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

Throughout my time at Lab I have built strong relationships with all the faculty I interact with. I tend to hear that they are unreachable, scary or that students just don’t feel like interacting with them. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that many people don’t have the opportunity to get to know the faculty outside of assemblies or mandatory meetings. My place in the student body allows me to voice the concerns of my classmates while allowing students to see how the faculty works. My goal is to make students feel as comfortable and confident with our faculty as possible without them having to do the bulk of the work.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I tend to see a large amount of division throughout the school between friend groups, grade levels and even people who have different interests. This often leads to lower turnouts for events, decreased school spirit and, in my opinion, less opportunities for fun. I would really like to see this amplified in my last year at Lab because, typically, things are more interesting when more people are involved and dedicated. To do this, I will have to look at new ways for engagement such as creating events that cater to a variety of interests and schedules. Especially since Lab students tend to be very busy, I want them to think of school events and connections as something extremely beneficial to their experience. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

I would like to have students and teachers alike value and set aside time for work other than traditionally “educational” interests. Often people think that if work is not being done in a classroom setting then there is no benefit. But, I would like to show that sometimes school can hinder learning and development of individual character and interests. One of my main goals is to create an environment where all developmental processes are accepted and encouraged. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

The largest way I can think of enhancing engagement is making it fit students’ interests and available time. As a baseline, if you want turnout at an event you must ensure that a good amount of people are interested in the activity or will find some enjoyment from coming. The best way to find this out is to have an open line of communication about what students would be interested in and what they feel would make their experiences better. The other main concern is timing. High school students are always busy, so how can we find time for them to engage in a social environment that won’t take time away from the other activities in their life. This starts with talking to teachers and admin to determine the busiest educational time of the year and ends with communication with students about the other activities they are in and the time that they occupy. People are busy so flexibility has to be very prevalent in our environment. 

Antonio Gracias

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

I want to re-define the Senior Class president to be someone who plans events to make our last year the best, and who creates a much-deserved student voice to generate change. In terms of planning events, I want to create more senior class-specific events that leave lasting memories. For example, senior barbecues, “de-stress” events during the fall, lock-ins, ice skating at the Midway, beach day and a Senior Class outing to Six Flags. Given the climate of the school and our current situation, my main goal is to help the Senior Class smoothly step into a leadership position.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

This year has been challenging for us all, and to be honest, I don’t know all the answers. What I can do, however, is listen to your suggestions and turn them into realistic and actionable plans. As leaders of the community, we deserve to be heard, and I will fight for each of your voices. Twice a month, I want to host open hours before school for all seniors to ask questions, discuss events, and eat doughnuts! As your Senior Class president, I want to ensure that everyone is heard and that they have opportunities to create change.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

As Senior Class president, I would like to see a culture in which the Senior Class steps up as leaders to create change. As I reflect on this past year, I want to help create an environment where everyone feels safe and accepted. In order to create that culture, I would meet with the leaders of all ethnic and social groups once a month to discuss their goals and to see how we can enact change. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

To be completely candid, making U-High a stress-free environment is a hard task. At Lab, we are taught to put thought and effort into our work, and we all care about success. It would be unfair of me to promise a stress-free environment while coming back from social distancing and going into the college application process. What I can do, however, is to organize events that help us de-stress and connect as a grade, such as a senior barbecue and lock-in. While these won’t completely eliminate stress, spending time with one another will help manage it. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

To enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities, it’s essential to tailor events to what students actually want to do. That’s why if elected as Senior Class president, I’m going to make it my mission to be as open to the grade for suggestions as possible. Through surveys and discussions, we can work together to make events approachable and fun. I’d also like to give students the opportunity to buy U-High gear at sporting events and theater productions to help boost spirit.

Susan Huang

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My main goal is to make our senior year the best year we’ll have yet. However, this will be difficult to accomplish, considering that we will all be faced with the stress and pressure of college apps and decisions. That is why my main focus next year on Student Council would be on our grade’s mental health, since everyone will probably struggle with it next year in differing levels of severity. Student Council has a lot of potential and room to get more involved, and I think the school definitely does not focus on it enough.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

Strong relationships between faculty and the students are the most important part of being able to communicate between the two bodies. For as long as I’ve been at Lab, one of the things I love to do the most has been building strong, close relationships with my teachers. I have never seen faculty as distant people just here for us to learn school material from. Student Council is no different; I am always ready to communicate and build relationships with faculty.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

Lab is a very diverse school. Of course it still has room to improve in the diversity department, but I don’t think anyone can deny the fact that it is more diverse than most schools in the country and the world. However, this fact alone does not mean that it is extremely welcoming to students who aren’t white, male, cis, straight, able-bodied, and Christian. I hope to create a culture in which we can use our diversity to our advantage, to help people learn from those around them who are different and to gain more empathy for everyone. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

It is no secret that everyone at Lab experiences stress. Senior year for us will no doubt bring even more stress, with having to complete college applications and having to figure out what our futures after high school will look like. And neither I nor Student Council can magically eliminate all this pressure and stress. However, I can help reduce it. Through events made specifically to help destress to an online, anonymous support wall where we can discuss mental health surrounding school, I have many ideas that will hopefully destigmatize mental health and reduce stress next year.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

The clear answer to this would be to integrate student body suggestions and feedback into school activities and events, which is something I think almost every candidate will say and try to accomplish. However, this is easier said than done, because, from experience on Student Council, I know most people will not want to take initiative to express their opinions, and not all voices in the student body will be represented. I think the most effective solution would be to make it for people to share their thoughts, through things like multiple choice polls, asking in person, etc.

Soyi (Elizabeth) Park

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My main goal is to make sure that my peers feel comfortable talking about anything. This year has been rough for some of us, due to events that hurt certain communities and individuals. If I am in a position where I can easily reach out to faculty, I would make sure my peers feel safe. Whenever we gather together to talk about certain topics that might be disturbing for some of us, students hesitate to speak up in public. I plan to create anonymous ways to talk about certain topics together, so students share their opinions on improving our community.  

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I am very aware of the fact that communication between students and faculty is one of the most important factors of attending school. I will make sure that students do not hesitate to reach out to me so that I can convey the voices of my peers to the faculty. I plan to deliver important messages from students by writing formal letters, having meetings regularly, and other such ways. To deliver the faculty’s messages to students, I plan to use Schoology, Midway and assemblies to deliver those messages. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I hope that Lab recognizes more diversity. I know that most students don’t really like attending assemblies during their free periods, but assemblies that students consider to be important are assemblies that deal with our painful history. As a student, I truly appreciate having these sessions, but when I talk to other students of color, some express complaints about how we don’t talk deeply about Asians and Latinos. I realized that even though we try to include everyone, some may feel left out. I plan to run at least one more school assembly to gather and discuss these topics.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

I know that juniors have been stressing out about colleges recently, and I have seen seniors get really stressed out about college applications. As a class president, I hope to find ways to help my peers find ways to reduce their stress regarding admissions. For example, the Student Council could create a program to reach out to Lab school alumni to give their advice on navigating the admissions cycle. In addition, the Student Council could set up dedicated application essay writing sessions for seniors.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I plan on enhancing the student body’s engagement in school activities by hosting events that students consider important such as assemblies about race and college essay writing sessions. In addition, by making students feel safe at Lab, I hope to increase engagement that way. If students feel safe, their Lab pride will increase. I also want to take the time to listen to and address each student’s concerns, and if students feel heard and cared for, I believe their engagement in school activities will be enhanced. 

Zachary Gin

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

I want to revive and continue working on some bills that I have worked on in the past, such as the facilities bill and Curriculum Feedback. These bills would improve the student body’s time at Lab through the comfort of their school space and through academic relations with teachers. I also want to introduce a new line grade merchandise, which would be a fun way to further grade unity. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I think that a connection between the student body and the faculty is now, more than ever, necessary. As junior president, I would like to ensure that this connection maintains open through conversations with faculty and I hope that students would feel free to approach me at any time to address their concerns.  

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

Lab’s school culture is an accumulation of our shared experiences from taking history tests to fun all-school events like Art in the Dark and Labstock. I hope to facilitate grade events to promote our unity and to provide an opportunity to relieve the stress of our school day. Although it is the primary job of the Cultural Union, I think that all grade representatives should help bring their grade together and plan grade events. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

U-High is a very academically rigorous school and stress will always follow behind such hard work. I would want to host small gatherings with free food and drinks during stressful academic periods, such as finals or before and after the SAT. In addition to these small events, I know that occasionally teachers will assign too much work or put too many tests in one day and I hope I will be a resource to help students communicate with their teachers and/or counselors to relieve their problems. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

Having new and fun ideas about different events would definitely help raise participation numbers in school activities. For example, I know that my grade has not had a grade-wide assassins game or water balloon fight and I think these new events would be fun and interesting for our grade. And of course the homecoming and winter formal have typically had high attendance rates for the two years that I have attended them, but nonetheless focusing on advertising and selling tickets will raise attendance rates. However, I have learned over my years on Student Council that sometimes some students are not interested in going to homecoming or winter formal regardless of the amount of advertising, so selling tickets can be problematic. 

Brent Pennington

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My main goal is to do more. I believe that the student representatives have a potential to see all of the problems that students have solved in the way that students want it, and I want to deliver. With that being said I like to outline plans to accomplish the ideas I have and they are fairly extensive and abstract so I would need more space to write about them but I can give a brief overview of what my ideas are: Reform the DEI system to make for more engaging and effective learning by increasing coordinator responsibilities, create another section of Student Council that focuses of fundraising ideas to give to clubs in order to make it easier for them to fund raise, creating a more effective response to the racial incidents by redefining what allows for racism, and a lot more that I can not fit in less that 100 words. (sorry)

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

From my view, the student representatives can only solve student issues the way students want them solved by guiding the administration instead of just telling them. With that being said, I will be more “hands on” during the problem solving portion of creating change and hold administrators accountable to seeing student goals accomplished. This will look like me either sitting in on administrator-administrator discussions, or following up with administrators after meetings, to specify who will accomplish what and identify how progress will be monitored, most likely consisting of a report back. I will act like this to ensure not only that student voices are heard, but also student solutions are brought to the table and change is guaranteed.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I hope to see a culture where people are highly educated without the expense of increased engagement and fun activity. I believe that Lab School does not have to be “stressful all the time,” and instead can be fun as well. Reducing stress and increasing the ability for student to have fun is my main goal and I will work to accomplish both by (a) the fund raising explained earlier, (b) the response the “stress free” question below, and (c) in general acting as a funny person who does things to make the community laugh and be happy [i.e. some speeches that I have given]. In general I really enjoy the Lab community and I can promise that I will do as much as I can to give back to it.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

I believe that the key to creating a stress-free environment revolves around a combination or communication between the student body and faculty and the follow through by student representatives. I went to a forum discussing how homework over break seemed too stressful and afterwards I decided to write a set of solutions and give them to Ms. Campos to help reinforce what students wanted during meetings that students could not be a part of. I have already been working to ensure that student voices are heard throughout the entire process of making change and this along with increased communication between faculty and students is how I will continue to make this school a stress-free environment.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

In acknowledgement of the quarantine, I would use Schoology and other social media platforms as a means to create engagement. However, once the quarantine has concluded, I will be a more active participant in the process of connecting students by creating engagement not only through online means, but also in person. A combination of online surveys and days where I just walk up to and talk to a group of people in the hallways, may be the most effective way to get people engaged. In all honesty I talk to a lot of people in  the hallways, so doing this would not be out of the ordinary for me. 

Fermi Boonstra

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

Generally, but especially during this crisis, I think it’s important for us to all stay connected. My main ideas for this spring include a virtual meetup on Minecraft or the rebooted Club Penguin, and possibly a Netflix Party. It would be really fun to bring back a piece of our childhood, but in a way that’s new in how we would interact. Once we’re back in school, I’d love to help with Lab’s environmental impact. Lab could set the stage for using materials like compostable straws and reusable markers, and I’d love to be a leader in making this change.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

This year StudCo worked on ways to which students and faculty could extend common ground to listen and give feedback. The Curriculum Feedback Bill was one of the methods of communication between students and faculty, and I would love to continue improving its various components. I would also host forums and meetings where students and faculty chairs can directly discuss the different ways to improve workload and best practices for teaching.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I think Student Council is a great way to promote DEI and school spirit; by planning all-school events such as dances and spirit days/assemblies, StudCo is able to foster a fun environment that I think is important for students to thrive, so continuing those traditions is definitely important to me. Regarding a community that promotes DEI, StudCo is a group that impacts those issues a lot. Hosting open forums and meetings with affinity/cultural groups has really helped and will continue to help those who want to share their voice and help StudCo combat issues surrounding DEI. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

Although completely eliminating stress is difficult, I have many ideas to mitigate stress at U-High. During finals week which I think is one of the most stressful times for us, we could have a day where we bring in dogs for students to pet, put mats in the gym for people to nap on, and have free milkshake-making in the café. I also think communicating with faculty during different periods of time about student stress-levels could help alleviate one of our main stressors.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

The success of all-school events really depends on the students, so appealing to the student body is important. Finding new methods to publicize events through fun Schoology posts, videos promotions, and mini games that lead up to activities are all ways that I would love to see StudCo engage the student body both on a grade and all-school level. Another important opinion to always consider is the student body’s voice. Getting input and ideas from Google forms or talking to grade reps will be especially important for participation because then we can implement all of their great ideas.

Ameya Deo

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

The first thing I would do as class president would be to understand what my peers want. This would be done by sending out surveys every two weeks to the grade to gauge their workload, stress, and any changes they would like to see. Based on the feedback that is received, I will discuss any problems brought up in the survey with the administration to make any necessary changes. My main goal as class president is to form a connection with the rest of my peers so I can represent them in the best possible way.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I will implement these bi-weekly surveys that gauge the student’s stress and workload as well as any requested changes. As president, I will set regular meetings outside of the Student Council meetings with the faculty to go over the results of the survey. I can ensure that the concerns of my peers will not go unnoticed and I will advocate for them to the best of my ability.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I hope to see a school culture where everyone feels like they have a voice in the future of Lab. I want everyone to feel included in the decision-making process. Additionally, I want a school culture where everyone can voice their opinions without feeling judged. I will ensure that this happens by listening to the opinions of my peers and taking them into account in any decisions I make as president.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

As stress is a constant part of a Lab student’s life, it is essential to find how to reduce it. With the surveys that I send out, I will get to understand the stress level of the grade and if it seems to be too much, I will set meetings with the faculty to see what is required to reduce the stress level of the students. I will also be very involved in planning grade events that would help people destress. It will be my top priority to ensure that U-High is a stress-free environment.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

I plan to do this by making sure that the school activities are ones that the students are on board with. If the school activities are ones that the student body agrees with, then there is no reason that they wouldn’t attend. I would ensure that the activities are what the student body wants by getting their feedback on what they want. This way, the student body gets events that they want and thus the engagement of the student body in school activities will increase.

Jeffery Huang

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

As sophomore president, I would like to implement various changes to the U-High community. My main goal is to improve the experience and engagement at school activities. Gatherings such as assemblies and diversity workshops are often mandatory and are often not favored over free periods. After all, who doesn’t like a free period, where you are free to do what you want? In order to deal with this problem, I would like to implement a degree of student input into these mandatory gatherings. With student input, I believe that I can achieve my main goal.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I will act as a liaison between students and faculty by effectively communicating and acting as a middle-person between the student body and the faculty body. In order to do this, I will be proactive and informing of all of the Student Council activities. I will also act responsibly, making sure everyone in the community is well informed of all of the things going on in the community. After all, that is what the students and faculty deserve.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I envision a culture at school where people are free to engage and participate in activities, meetings, groups, and other methods of social interaction. I hope that people, shy or not, will be able to easily join in and interact with other students in a friendly way. I hope that racial lines can be severed and interactions made regardless of race or ethnicity. I hope that our community can exist together with respect and integrity. In order to achieve this environment, I will promote positive friend-making and social activities and promote school spirit to foster community cohesion. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

I plan on hosting not just two large events in the year but also a series of smaller, fun events that allow students to unwind and have fun as a student body. These events would be somewhat like hanging out with friends, but with the whole community. Schoolwork and classes are a big factor in stress, and allowing peers time to distract from these stresses I think will definitely benefit the Lab community. I personally enjoy hanging out with friends, even though I don’t do it as much anymore. It’s a good way to relax and enjoy the friendship of company.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

This happens to be my main goal for Student Council; I plan on increasing engagement and participation in school activities. I believe that the way to increase engagement is to have something that can benefit the student body. After all, who doesn’t like a free period? In order to benefit the students themselves, I plan on incorporating student feedback and ideas into school activities. The purpose of Student Council, after all, is to be the voice of the student body. With student input, I believe that students may be more inclined to engage in school activities.

Amelie Liu

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

I aspire to utilize the best of Lab: the desire to make a positive impact on this world, as an opportunity to foster community. In line with this mission — if I’m elected — service-learning, an important, but sadly isolated part of sophomore year, will become an opportunity for us to share our triumphs in making meaningful good in this world by coming together for a greater purpose than ourselves. But, of course, we still like to have fun, so, these triumphs will be celebrated by indulging in a party filled with food, fun, and purpose.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

To be a liaison between students and faculty is to ensure not only that both sides are heard, but also to ensure that words are not misconstrued. When there are problems, it is often because of how words are twisted and important things overlooked. Thus, I will act as a bridge between students and faculty, ensuring that each has a platform in which they can speak their thoughts clearly and freely without fear of misinterpretation. Furthermore, I will work to hear both sides and help to find answers and solutions that are mutually agreeable. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

School spirit comes as the result of an environment which makes everyone feel at home and supported, which I look to keep intact and help foster. I believe that we must have an environment that promotes individuality, while connecting us through our shared bond, Lab. In addition to this spirits’ being part of the atmosphere of Lab, we’ll create merchandise that reflects the beautiful diversity, which includes the backgrounds, interests, and goals, of our student body. Furthermore, to give every student the opportunity to have Lab merchandise, the cost will be lowered by proceeds from bake sales and fundraisers.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

While, unfortunately, all of life has its different stressors, it’s critical to learn to address and resolve stressors that are temporary and effectively manage stressors inherent to being teenagers in school. To best identify and respond to these unnecessary stressors, if elected, I would send out bi-monthly, optional, surveys that ask students, confidentially, to list unnecessary stressors at U-High. Lastly, in terms of managing inherent stressors, I would try to eliminate the fear of getting help when there are problems, by making students not only aware of the strict confidentiality requirements of counselors but also their willingness to help.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

Engagement is the key to engagement. This may sound confusing, but it’s true. To me, the way to encourage student participation in school activities is to make students an active part of the planning and development of these activities. To do this, it’s important to listen to students when they talk about needs and wants and work alongside students, to show they’re supported. By giving a voice to all students, I have confidence that we will increase engagement in school activities by making everyone feel that they have the ability to be an active member of the community.

Clare O’Connor

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My main goal as class president would be to increase Lab student engagement within the community. I have been lucky to have gained so much in only a year from some of these opportunities, but I am saddened by the measures I had to take to seek out these opportunities. Through online outreach and teacher participation, I believe I can help more students benefit in the same ways I have. I also hope to take more simple measures to improve student’s lives in simple yet powerful ways such as mandatory allowance for students to eat lunch while in clubs.

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

I would publicize student suggestion forms and streamline the process of submissions. While alleyways for student concerns and suggestions are implemented, they are often hard to find and difficult to navigate. I would utilize Schoology as well as physical reminders to encourage usage of these forms. I would also reanalyze the format of the forms, simplifying the questions to a minimum. I would also use online and physical reminders to encourage the student body to participate in Student Council meetings, encouraging them to be directly involved with the process.

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I want to create an environment where students feel like they are truly valued members of our community. Lack of awareness concerning pathways for student suggestions and concerns combined with unpublicized opportunities discourage student’s involvement in Lab’s decision process. Students are the largest population in Lab’s community and have the least representation in Lab’s policy. While students’ immaturity should be taken into account, policy should reflect our needs and that can only be done with increased student involvement.

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

From what I have seen in my peers, the largest source of stress for them is community divide and school work. To remedy the community, I decided I would work to outline specific offenses and what punishments correlate. I believe the current ad hoc policy for punishments encourages confusion. Lab needs to decide where we stand concerning the Chicago statement. When considering homework load and it’s connection to stress, I want to help create comfort in our community that facilitates teacher-student conversations. With teacher understanding where students stand, we can reach a place of reasonable calm within the lab community.

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

Increased awareness of Lab’s opportunities would be one of my main objectives as class president. Students often don’t read the daily bulletin and consequently are unaware of the various opportunities that Lab offers. I would work to empower teachers to reach out to students about opportunities. Teachers that already work to enable student participation would be leaders in this push for participation. I am personally passionate about publicizing student access to IOP talks. Multiple times a week, famous politicians, scientists and others thought leaders speak on our very campus. I only realized Lab students got free admission on accident when trying to buy a ticket. 

Vincent Zhang

What new ideas would you bring to the table? What is your main goal?

My main goal is fulfill the requests the class makes and try to act upon it. Also I want to make the communication between the student and the administration efficient and clear. I would want to place bills on what the students need. 

How will you act as a liaison between students and faculty?

The communication between the students and faculty is very important because through Student Council, students are more comfortable to share their concerns and ideas. The people that are serving on Student Council should be the messengers who bring the ideas to the table. 

What kind of school culture do you hope to see? How will you work to create it?

I think that there could be a little more class spirit. There could be more special spirit week because if you create too many of them it gets tedious. I also plan on creating more class merch and the merch will be what the students want. Also sporting events are also very important in school culture. 

How will you work to make U-High a stress-free environment?

Due to the lack of sleep students are getting I was thinking about changing a policy of having a survey and finding out how much students are spending on homework. Some classes may be stressing students out and the teacher might not know it so there should be something done with the extra stress. 

How do you plan to enhance the student body’s engagement in school activities?

Student Council should be some of the people that promote the sporting events or the school activities and Student Council should be very supportive of the games and this will lead their friends to go to the games with them. 

The Midway did not elect to survey the candidates for grade-level vice presidential and Cultural Union positions. The names of students running for those positions are listed below. Further details on their platforms can be found on the Student Council website.

Running for Senior Vice President are Alisha Kumar and Daniel Han.

Running for Senior Cultural Union Representative are Aanika Atluri, Marcus Chang, Ramsey Radwan and Kara Xu.

Running for Junior Vice President are Aaron Kim, Anathea Carrigan and Kara Tao.

Running for Junior Cultural Union Representative are Saul Arnow, James Sowerby, Alina Susani and Kennedi Bickham.

Running for Sophomore Vice President are Juan Chaides, Corona Chen, Audrey Matei, Amy Ren, Graham Robbins, Serena Thomas and Ethan Kucera.

Running for Sophomore Cultural Union Representative are Akshay Badlani, Katherine Bai, Charlie Benton, Krishita Dutta, Ishani Hariprasad, Ella Hultquist, Sara Kumar, James Morin and Maile Nacu.