With quad decoration running from morning to night every weekend and Homecoming looming on the horizon, class officers are busier and more vocal than ever. Every week, heavily punctuated Facebook posts to the effect of “Come to Quad Decs!!!” pop up, urging the rest of the class to get into the Homecoming spirit. This level of enthusiasm from class officers seems only natural; after all, they are supposed to represent the best that each class has to offer.
Very few would challenge class officers on their spirit and dedication. But it may be time to look beneath all the spirit and see if they are truly representative of the student body.
It seems strange to ask, but what do all 21 current class officers have in common? They all are graduates of Kennedy Middle School. For a school that consistently gets a quarter to a third of its freshman class from Lawson Middle School, MVHS has a surprisingly small Lawson representation. In fact, there is currently only non-Kennedy grad—senior ASB IDC-representative Neil Fernandes—serving in an elected position in Leadership.
Could it be that Kennedy is simply a powerhouse for producing spirited students that puts Lawson and other feeder middle schools to shame? Unlikely. The answer lies in the design of freshmen class officer elections.
Freshman elections generally occur within the first two weeks of school, with campaigns starting as early as the first Friday of school. Not only is this disorienting for a student not familiar with MVHS, it also does not give candidates a chance to show their qualifications. All there is to vote on are pretty signs and and minute-long shout-outs. It is no wonder that freshman elections are often likened to popularity contests.
Once elected, class officers automatically become the most visible people during rallies and events. While their hard work from there onwards is certainly commendable, the playing field for future elections is, without doubt, skewed in their favor because of their high visibility. For the senior class of 2012, four of the five original class officers from freshmen year have been safely elected to ASB office. Both the class of 2013 and 2014 are on track to repeat this feat.
To make the playing field a fair one from the beginning, freshmen campaigning and elections should be moved to the week after the first rally. By doing so, candidates have to opportunity to prove themselves by working on rallies, getting to know their class, and showing spirit. In the meantime, Link leaders, along with dedicated freshmen, should lead the planning for the Welcome Rally and Homecoming. Not only is this a more organic form of determining dedicated class officers, it also increases overall class involvement and representation. Because at the end of the day, class officers are representatives of their class first and their titles second.
Correction: Senior ASB IDC-representative Neil Fernandes did not attend an MVHS feeder school.
