Each spring, students participate in an annual vote to choose their Student Council officers and class presidents for the upcoming year. StuCo focuses on inclusivity, culture and giving a voice to students. This year, voting began April 24 and results were announced two days later.
Not only will there be new officers and class presidents, but there will be a new sponsor. Fashion Design teacher Celeste Pojas will be taking over from the current sponsor Meghan Hill.
“I just felt like it was going to be a good club to sponsor,” Pojas said. “There’s a lot of school spirit involved in it, and I’m just excited to take over. I was in Stuco when I was in high school, so it’s going to be fun to sponsor it.”
Junior Nadia Okunowo, senior class president for next year, will be in charge of planning and organizing events and fundraisers. In addition, she will help make decisions on projects like theme days, homecoming and prom.
“I decided to run for class president because we as students deserve better,” Okunowo said. “It’s important that seniors especially know that there are people rallying for them and that all their hard work wasn’t to just graduate or get out, but that there are things to look forward to.”
Okunowo’s ideas for next year are culture day, powderpuff and to have class events and opportunities for socializing at places like the Crossover.
“A lot of my ideas for next year are just centered around being the best leader I can be,” Okunowo said. “I want to make senior year a fun experience and not just for a select few, [but] for everyone.”
As the Student Body President for next year, junior Phoebe Huang will be in charge of StuCo. She will host general meetings, submit written proposals for meetings, take part in talking roles and update the administration on activities.
“I was so unbelievably happy when I won,” Huang said. “I was incredibly anxious all throughout the campaign because this was something I had wanted and worked hard for since my freshman year. After seeing my name on the winning page, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and my heart was beating so fast out of excitement.”
Huang plans to create connecting activities such as field day and student-teacher jeopardy.
“Some main goals I have for next year are to make the Student Council more known and involved,” Huang said. “I also want to close that gap between the grade levels to create a more connected student body. I want everyone to have a part in the events, whether that is helping brainstorm, plan or just simply attend.”
To promote her campaign, Huang used many strategies, specifically focusing on what was trending through TikTok trends, songs and memes.
“I focused on all the different communities in school because I knew that if I was going to run for the student body, I had to convince and persuade all the students at Rouse ranging from theater, athletics, band, etc.,” Huang said. “I printed posters with memes and taped them in the areas of the school that those types of students would relate to or find entertaining.”
Sophomore Bela Orallo, the junior class president for next year, will be a part of organizing and planning certain events for the school. In addition, Orallo hopes to be a role model to others.
“My main goal for next year is to increase school spirit and make Rouse a place to not only learn, but to have fun,” Orallo said. “I understand that the high school experience may not be something that everyone will have, but I at least want to organize something that students can remember.”
As the historian for next year, sophomore Arya Goyani aims to increase membership by building a strong platform on the StuCo social media account, @rouse_stuco.
“I feel great about being the historian, although I have a lot of new responsibilities that I’m nervous about,” Goynai said. “I’m super excited for the new things we are going to implement [in] StuCo.”