Photo caption: Newly-elected freshmen SCA officers gather for the first time at the SCA Fall Retreat on Sunday, September 20. Officers discussed ideas for spirit week and dress-up, as well as homecoming. ?
On Thursday, September 17 freshmen SCA officers were voted into office. Newly-elected officers include: Shabeer Ahmed for president, Julie Connelly for vice president, Katherine Stricker for secretary, Katie O’Neill for treasurer, and Kourtney Wattles for at-large. Elections took place a day early (originally planned for Friday, September 18) in order to give the officers time to coordinate their schedules for upcoming meetings.
Leading up to the elections, SCA advisor Mr. Peter Laub and freshman SCA advisor Mr. Stephen Whitcomb had difficulty finding enough students to submit the petitions. Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School (MEHMS) is traditionally in charge of selecting the ninth grade SCA officers while the students are still in eighth grade, however, they were not able to select the SCA officers last year. The process did not begin until the beginning of this school year when freshmen interested in SCA were to fill out candidacy petition forms.
Many freshmen hope to help voice their peers’ concerns and ideas through SCA, as well as help make the transition to high school easier.
“As freshmen, we are new to the school and I want to help everyone feel comfortable and adjusted,” said newly-elected secretary Katherine Stricker.
As part of the SCA, officers meet twice a month and discuss issues relevant to the freshman class. Additionally, freshmen officers need to raise approximately $2,400 during the course of the 2015-2016 school year. This is roughly twelve times as much as the freshman SCA raised the previous school year.?
“It will be interesting to see if the ninth graders can rise to the occasion,” said Mr. Whitcomb.
The money raised will be used for the annual Fire Drill picnic, which is organized by the freshman officers as an annual end-of-year tradition.
Quickly following the election, the first SCA meeting was September 20 where all officers met for the annual SCA Fall Retreat. During the retreat the SCA planned spirit week, hallway decorations, and the Homecoming dance.
