To bring back some normalcy for the school year and prepare for when students eventually return to school, CCHS hosted freshmen elections. The time had come to have these elections in order to get the ball rolling on several important traditional plans, such as class shirts and input from the officers on homecoming plans. However, Student Government Association (SGA), which handles all class elections, had to overcome a lack of expedient participation and difficulties while spreading the word to the freshman.
Even after the election, the Class of 2024 does not have a filled slate of positions. There were only three candidates who ran when it came time for elections and choosing the placement of candidacy. When originally running, all of the current officers chose the same position: vice president.
“I originally chose vice president because I was previously the National Junior Honor Society Vice President at Pioneer Middle School, and I felt like I would be a great choice considering my experience in that position,” Class of 2024 Treasurer William Chartrand said.
All having similar reasons to choose the vice presidency, they had to make a difficult decision which would determine how the rest of their freshmen year would turn out. Eventually, after learning the roles of all of the main positions– president, vice president and treasurer– the candidates were eventually spread out as such. Julani Johnson would assume the role as President, Gina Schoenfeld for the Vice Presidential slot and William Chartrand as Treasurer.
“Since it is my first year at Cooper City High School, and I wasn’t sure how SGA was going to work, I thought going for vice president would be a safe option,” Johnson said. “The reason behind me switching from running for the vice president position to running for the president position [was] because I was already thinking about running for president, and I thought I might as well just go for it.”
With no person filling the secretarial role, it was decided that the person who remained as vice president would take on the responsibilities for secretary as well. This caused the dispersal of roles from vice president to as they are now. Schoenfeld had to make an executive choice to take on two roles, an unprecedented occurrence.
“I chose to stay as vice president and take on the responsibilities as secretary because I thought it would be fun to attend Inter-organizational Council (IOC) meetings and also be able to run the social media,” Schoenfeld said. “I feel that I have a lot more responsibilit[ies] than just having one position; this does not scare me, rather, it excites me more.”
Despite the unusual election, the incoming officers feel eager to begin their year and are already setting goals for themselves.
“[My goal is] to have a successful and enjoyable year,” Chartrand said. “The school year is definitely going to be a challenge, but I know me and my fellow officers can handle it.”
Photo courtesy of CCHS Class of 2024 on Twitter
