Sophomore Class President

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.