Mrs. Richmond announced that there will be many changes to the election process this year for SBO and class officers. This year anyone who wants to participate can fill out a form from the office. In the form, they will have to provide what position they want, their testimony, and possibly a teacher recommendation. Then potential candidates will be interviewed by their grade’s class sponsor or the SBO sponsors. The candidates will then be voted on by the school in an election like previous years. This process differs from previous years where candidates had to be nominated by a large number of classmates to be considered. Jillian Webb, a senior student, has been class officer for three years, and she was willing to give her opinion on the new changes. In her opinion, there are both pros and cons to these changes. Allowing students to nominate themselves makes the process more inclusive, but she also says that being nominated by classmates gives students the confidence to run who may not run otherwise. When students are nominated by lots of their classmates, it makes candidates feel like they have adequate support to run a good campaign. However, the new process will allow more students in the background to run who may not have gotten nominated otherwise. Overall, Jillian thinks self-nomination makes the process more inclusive, but she prefers class nominations because of the encouragement they give candidates. She has thoroughly enjoyed her experience as a class officer, and she encourages students to participate. In her experience, being a class officer helped her realize that leadership is about serving others, not being in the spotlight. In her many years as a class officer, Jillian said she is most proud of planning the Junior-Senior banquet with her fellow officers. The officers worked diligently on the banquet from summer up to the day before the banquet, and she is proud of their hard work and the banquet they were able to present. 

Overall, many responses have been very positive about this change to SBO and Class Officers, and many more people have applied to these positions. Applicants have reported that it’s not very formal, and it’s really more of a conversation. Something that Thomas Fuller, an interviewee, liked was the shift to quality students versus the popularity poll of previous years. This time the teachers pick the more suitable candidates, and not whoever has the most friends. This will hopefully encourage students who are best fit for the role, with a passion for serving the Academy, to campaign.