While sophomore, junior and senior representatives are elected in spring of the year prior, freshman representatives don’t get elected until the fall of the next term.
Sophomore representatives Judah Ostrand and Milo Harris attended Modern World History classes on all-eight days to explain the position, then the applications were opened to students. Freshmen were allowed to campaign and run in the same ways as the rest of the student body.
“I had the sophomore representatives go to the freshman classes to kind of explain what it was like because they were most recently in that position, and so it kind of made sense that they’d be the ones to share the news,” leadership adviser Natalie Gardner said.
Electees ran as a ticket together and had a week total of campaigning. Regarding the specific campaigning towards the freshman class, winners Grace Ngyuen and Viola DeVigal discussed their tactics and main message when running.
“I kind of wanted to make a point that we’re not gonna promise anything…” DeVigal said. “We could promise you that we’re gonna make lunch lines shorter, but realistically, we don’t know if that’s going to happen or if we can do that. But [we can] leave you feeling like you have a voice,” Ngyuen said.
They used stickers, candy and cookies for involvement incentives, one of which was Hello Kitty dressed up as a bear sticker that said “Grace & Viola, Freshman Reps.” As well as having people take pictures with a stuffed bear and poster that said, “Vote Grace & Viola, Freshman Reps.”
Meet your Freshman Representatives
Freshman representative Viola DeVigal is on the Speech and Debate team, where she does impromptu and public forum. She also does ballet, as well as theater.
At Vernon Middle School she had started a theater club, and here she aims to participate in the smaller ‘every once in a while,’ plays rather than musicals.
She’s always felt drawn to leadership roles, which is why she paired with Ngyuen who shares the same passion.
“I just saw Grace immediately as a very outgoing person. She literally knew everyone, DeVigal said. “I’ve always kind of found myself in leadership roles, but I didn’t know if that was gonna be the same here. Then I was not sure if I was gonna run, but then once me and Grace got a little bit closer, we kind of just decided to run together.”
Freshman representative Grace Ngyuen expressed how she loves to experience new things.
“I’m the type of person who always wants to have new opportunities because I think having those new experiences always gets me really excited,” Ngyuen said.
She’s ventured to assist with SUN programs and has led fundraisers for the Vietnamese Research Residency and Viet club. As well as a part-time athlete here, where she plays volleyball and track. She also does line dancing and plays drums.
Ngyuen expressed how her passion for new things is thanks to her family.
“I have to give credit to my family too because they invite me to a lot of parties, so it’s just knowing how to talk to people and also knowing what the people want [that] really helps out in a leadership role,” Ngyuen said.
Freshman representatives meet with leadership council members once per week on Wednesdays. They have ideas in the works for freshman academy competitions and will continue to meet with vice principal Keyla Santiago for future events.
They’ve also put out a google form for the freshman class, which can be found around the school on bright pink posters, and here.
“Give us feedback and ideas, our main campaign was you have a voice, like let’s use it. Let’s hear it. Don’t be shy, we’re here. We’re here. And our main goal is to do things based off of what you guys want,” said DeVigal.
