Jenna Phelps, Sam Young voted Student Council presidents
Juniors Jenna Phelps and Sam Young after student council meeting before school after getting elected presidents. The meeting was about improvements to the school for the upcoming year.
May 25, 2023
Newly elected student council presidents, juniors Jenna Phelps and Sam Young, hope to affect positive change within the school community next year.
School events are a large part of the school community and are a great way to promote inclusivity. Phelps and Young hope to expand on these current events and add new ones to give every member of the school community an opportunity to be involved in things that they are interested in.
“A big part of high school is getting people involved in the school community…I think that gives everyone a better school experience,” Young said.
Having mixed-gendered presidents will draw interest in the Student Council from a more diverse group of students. This will generate more participation from otherwise would not have branched out.
“Sam would be able to tag people from his friend group… Jenna is connected with a different kind of group… so we get lots of different perspectives,” Dusty Dennis, student council advisor, said.
This was a rare occasion where only one pair of candidates ran for president. The other candidates “dropped out because they were scared” when they found out Phelps and Young were running together.
“We did expect to have an opponent to run against. We actually did have an opponent until they knew we were both running together,” Young said.
A big part of high school is getting people involved in the school community…I think that gives everyone a better school experience. — Sam Young
They are following the trend that has been seen in recent years of the elected student council presidents. It used to be that the most popular students in the school would be elected, but now it has shifted to people that care and want to be involved with their school community.
Dennis feels that when he first took over it was just the popular kids and then it became more academic-oriented, now Young and Phelps are going to freshen everything up.
Being part of the student council for the past four years has broadened the horizons of the people that they have interacted with. These new connections they have made have set the foundations for lifelong relationships beyond the end of their high school careers.
“I love everyone in Student Council and you don’t think you’re going to be friends with those people until you get to spend so much time with them,” Phelps said.
The different aspects of Young and Phelps partnership will set them up for success in many ways next year. Their many ideas hope to rejuvenate the school community by adding events that showcase the talents of everyone in the school.
