As the school year of 2016-2017 comes to an end, the students of Cesar Chavez High School prepare to welcome the next school year with the coming student government election this Thursday, April 13th. Namely, the school’s student government prepare to elect the new senior class president for the 2017-2018 school year. The Oracle spoke with Mr. Areida, the faculty member in charge of the school’s student government class, and the two Juniors running for next year’s senior class president.

The Oracle inquired with Mr. Areida what obligations and responsibilities the student government and namely the senior class president holds. Areida responded that “Student Government is always busy; [the] jobs are spread out among everybody.” Some of the things that the class can be held responsible for is putting on school events, maintaining the school atmosphere and campus publicity, as well as handling businesses clubs want to do and having a club day to present the many clubs the school has. In regards to what the senior class president is responsible for, he noted that the class president “is a big deal in school, [because] they have a lot to be in charge of.” The position obligates the senior class president to motivate the rest of the senior class and coordinate senior activities like: Senior Sunrise, Sunset, Olympics, Grad Night, and most importantly Graduation.

When asked what qualifies a student to run for the senior class president, Mr. Arieda answered simply that the student must have a minimum GPA of 2.5, good attendance, no disciplinary issues, and must at least have 2 years in the leadership class. He emphasized the latter’s requirement as an incredibly important feat because “the senior class president is such an important job, they need at least 2 years of experience [in student government.]”

During an interview with one of the candidates, Elizabeth Sanchez, The Oracle asked her what qualified her for the position. The Publicity Commissioner responded by highlighting her time with student government as a treasurer during her freshmen year, vice president on her sophomore year, and as a publicity commissioner this year. She emphasized that the reason she’s running for the senior class president for next year is “[she] wants to go back into the class and get involved with the seniors.” Sanchez further highlighted her qualifications by adding that she is creatively and artistically skilled, and thinks outside the box more than others do. Inquiring of her achievements, she stated that some of her achievements have been getting into student government, maintaining a GPA of A’s and B’s, and being on top of her Engineering SLC class. Other than her involvement in school through student government, Elizabeth has been the captain of the girls’ golf team since her sophomore year.

The Oracle also interviewed Katelee Tilley, the current junior class president, from the Health and Science SLC,  running for next school year’s senior class president. Regarding what qualifies her to be the next senior class president, she simply stated, “I’ve shown that I’ve worked up to it since my freshmen year.” Inferring her involvement with student government since her first year of high school. Tilley further elucidated that her skill is that she “thinks about things out of perspective, not just my personal perspective.” She also told The Oracle the reason why she’s running for senior class president is that she “always thought of [representing the class], to show [them] what I can do, what I can bring to our senior year.” In addition to her activities as junior class president, Katelee added that one of her achievements have been planning this year’s prom in between her cheerleading and academics.

This year’s senior presidential election for the next school year will be the 11th election in the school’s history. Come Thursday, Cesar Chavez High School will welcome its 11th senior class president for the school year 2017-2018.