The Student Council serves to bridge the gap between East’s administration and its students. This year’s executive council and class representatives were elected Oct. 12. Accompanying new grade reps come new goals and visions for the future of East.
The new team includes President Julianne Reynolds, Vice President Hunter Klosty, Secretary Leen Bitar and Treasurer Zhiyan Qian. Freshman reps are Eva Kornbluth, Caroline Wang and Ellie Zerden. Sophomore reps are Elise Fricklas, Franklin Johnson and Marni Kim. Junior reps are Jordan Huang, Michael Kang and Lorissa Zhou. Senior reps are Zane Buckner, Caroline Karczewski, Ngan Le, Langley Maciejewski and Nikita Nagendra.
Reynolds has served on StuCo since her freshman year. She loves the feeling of bringing changes to the school and the students.
“I want to give back even more. This club has given so much to me,” Reynolds said. “I just want to be able to help others.”
Some council members, like Klosty, wish to use their positions to advance changes in student policy.
“I think that if we just air our grievances, we can actually get a lot done,” Klosty said. “I think that my election itself brought to light that the student body is ready for these changes. They don’t like e-hallpass; they don’t like these fees. They don’t like the new logo that Mr. Casey’s put onto us. They don’t like all sorts of nonsense.”
According to the ECHO’s September Student Survey, more than 72 percent of students believe that StuCo should have more power. With greater leverage to sway the administration, council members believe that they could better help their peers.
One apparent issue at East is the lack of communication between the faculty and the students. StuCo’s job is to close the gap between the faculty and the student body. The monthly Student Council meeting represents a step closer to the transparent communication that is desired by the student body.
“I want to see us reach agreements and communicate with the school about things that are going well and things that we’d like to improve,” said freshman representative Ellie Zerden.
StuCo members share the goal of improving school spirit with events like dances, fundraisers and guest lectures. StuCo aims to schedule two such events every month.
“One of our main jobs is to unite the student body through fun events where you can meet new people,” Reynolds said.
Given that East is known for its academic rigor, StuCo aims to host peer tutoring committees to support students.
“I’m hoping to establish a centralized peer tutoring center so that all students have a place to get tutoring for whatever classes that they might be having trouble in,” said senior representative Le. “That is also directly tied to my initiatives of having scholarship and internship resources, as well as general college application guides.”
This year, StuCo also wants to create smaller groups to target specific areas for improvement, such as awareness days for mental health.
“I would like to increase our support system including mental health and academic support systems,” Reynolds said.
Enhancing their goal of open communication, Reynolds hopes to serve as an accessible confidant for her peers to share their concerns.
“One of my main things is to make sure I’m here for everybody, to represent the entire student body,” she said. “I’m always here to communicate. You can always see me in the hall, so come chat with me. Email me whenever you want.”
Photo by Jordan Huang/The ECHO
