The newly re-introduced student government has everybody sharing school-political views and comments, staff included. The system itself was announced last year in the spring by Mrs. Bruce and other staff and came to action this week on Tuesday, September 25th and Wednesday, September 26th.

Each candidate has gone through gathering signatures from their peers and references from adults as well as setting up political campaign posters throughout the building, and most importantly, preparing and giving a speech to the students of Sweet Home during the aforementioned dates from this week, periods 1-4.

There are 8 candidates for Junior senate, out of which only 5 can be voted in by their peers.

Jeremy Vicario

Jeremy Vicario was the first of these 8 to speak to the people. Vicario’s ideas concerned communication and creating a safer environment. He spoke words of unity and centered his thinking and campaign promises around communication between the student body and student government.

Faith Irizarry

The next candidate was Faith Irizarry. Irizarry displayed a few unique ideas that even presidential candidates hadn’t mentioned. This included reopening the courtyard between the 100, 200, and 300 hallways, and using the Glass Wall in the lobby as an agenda for students to attend extra curricular activities, such as art shows, concerts, and sports games.

Shannon Lynch

The third to step up to the podium was Shannon Lynch. Lynch began her speech by relating to all of us as a fellow sweet home student by giving examples of her childhood. Lynch emphasized how she would do everything in her power to make the school more of a home. She described this using four principles: “A home can be many things. A sanctuary for memories to be built. A home proudly shows off the growth of its inhabitants within it’s door frames. It symbolizes hard work and dedication to the formation of family. It is structure, and a home is something that grows and changes with us.”

Lauren Luchey

The fourth candidate for junior senate was Lauren Luchey. Lauren’s speech consisted of comparisons to her old school, and a central focus on being more of a friend than a senator to the student body. Lauren is new to the school this year, and her courage was certainly defined by running for student government right off the bat.

Hunter Steward

Hunter Steward was the fifth candidate for Junior class senate. Hunter’s speech consisted of an emphasis on communication, and everybody’s voices being heard. He spoke of how a good communication between body and government of students is essential. One of his campaign promises was that if he was elected, he’d make sure to be open to communicate with, and if there were to be a problem, that he’d fix it as soon as he possibly can.

Chukwudi (Chudy) Ilozue

Chudy Ilozue was the sixth candidate to speak to the crowd. Chudy’s speech was abstract compared to other candidates, as the ideology that previous candidates followed further developed within it. Chudy stated that this is the first year of Sweet Home’s new-and-improved student body government. Thus, this year sets the tone for years to come. Because of this, Ilozue pushed the idea that in the government, because we are setting the expectations, we need serious officials to elect, and not just students who want a pretty college application. Chudy also mentioned that he would not “villainize, nor idoloize” the school’s administration, remaining unbiased and neutral, thus being able to apprehend problems as realistically as possible. “With student input, we can accelerate this improvement, and stop decisions that lower the quality of the environment, at Sweet Home.”

Aliyah Hodges

The next candidate was Aliyah Hodges. Hodges spoke to us relating to a good piece of the student body; she is an athlete and an honors student. And, as members from both categories can recognize, the two don’t mix fairly well. Matches or practices lasting until 5pm, when school traditionally ends 3 hours before, and needing to go to bed at a decent time to wake up and make it to school along with homework assignments 2 hours long each is the nightmare these students live in every day. Branching off of this, Aliyah described to the crowd that if she were in senate, she would do what she can to lift the weight off our shoulders and give us a voice. How? Communication between the body and government of course.

Chris Day

Chris Day, the final candidate, revealed to his classmates after the applause had quieted that he had no speech prepared. Thus everything he said to us came from his head. He spoke about how he identifies with athletes and honors students and students who are figuring themselves out as well. He talked about the importance of communication, then stepped down from the podium.

Elections are Friday, September 28th during your History/Social Studies classes! Hopefully this article has helped you recap today’s events in the auditorium from Periods 1 to 2, concerning the senate for the class of 2020