On Tuesday, April 26, the student government elections were held in Roberts Theater, for the position of speaker, secretary, and treasurer, won by juniors Frank Pu, Faith Potter, and Manu Narasimhan respectively.
The position of speaker is a coveted and significant role, as whoever occupies it is responsible for more than just hosting assembly. The speaker also moderates all SGA meetings and, as a part of the executive board, organizes school activities and is responsible for student life.
The secretary of SGA acts as the speaker’s right-hand person, helping the speaker and the treasurer with anything they need, taking notes at SGA meetings, keeping track of SGA plans, and acting as the overall organizational person.
The treasurer is responsible for keeping track of the school budget and, as a part of the executive board, they are also responsible for helping to organize activities and run SGA meetings if the speaker is absent.
This year, there were four candidates who ran for speaker: Frank, junior Jacob Joseph, junior Jada Asapokhai, and junior Garrett Kelly. Faith and Manu both ran unopposed. After a tie between Jacob and Frank that led to a second vote, Frank was elected speaker.
Despite winning the election, Frank did not intend to run for speaker at the start of the year. “I love this community. I know every speaker says this, but, to me, it’s particularly different,” he said. “I am from a different country, and I was shocked by the openness of the community when I first came to the United States. This community has been so great and so supportive for the past three years of my life.”
While candidates were only required to write a speech, Frank had a different idea. “If I wanted to win, I had to be a little different,” he said. “What I did first was to try to set a precedent by sending out a Google form because I believe that students should have the right to decide what happens in their community. After that I tried to make sure that my plan was as clear and specific as possible, so to make sure that people understood what I was up to, I also sent out an email about my plans and what I want to do in the future.”
Having been a longstanding member of SGA as senator in both her freshman and junior year, Faith looks forward to her new role on the executive board. “I genuinely do love KO a lot and I felt like this was something that I could contribute back to the community,” she said. “I thought some of my skills would be best put to use as a secretary; I’m really big on note taking and I like the organizational stuff, so it was the perfect way to hone those skills and give back to the KO community.”
Following Frank’s footsteps, Manu is looking forward to his new role as treasurer and managing the school’s finances. “I am excited to work with Frank and all the newly elected SGA representatives, and I hope that as treasurer, I can cut down on unnecessary costs and donate that money to charity,” he said.
Frank, Faith, and Manu all have clear and exciting goals for their upcoming year and have already started to work towards them. “I am hoping to carry out and fulfill my composting plan that is in the works right now,” Faith said. “We are working with Blue Earth Composting, a great company based in Hartford, and I’m super excited to move forward with that. I’m also excited to get us some more student discounts at local businesses and support small businesses in the center.”
Frank has three clear objectives that he is looking forward to completing in his senior year. “My first objective is to increase the amount of social time outside of school,” he said. “Secondly, I want to establish effective communication between the student body and student government. Lastly, I want to have a higher degree of integration in community life.”
As Frank, Faith, and Manu look forward to next year, they are excited to give back to the community. “I did not expect that I would win, but I was excited to have the opportunity and responsibility of taking care of this community,” Frank said. “There are a lot of people supporting me in the community, so I will do my best going forward.”
Aside from executive positions, freshman, sophomores, and juniors recently voted to elect next year’s class presidents and vice presidents. The following people were elected: Jacob Joseph (senior president), Mac Louis (senior vice president), Cienna Freeman (junior president), Ty Russo (junior vice president), Clara Drag (sophomore president), Ethan Stec (sophomore vice president).
Elections for senators and freshman president/vice president will occur in the Fall. Congratulations to all newly elected members of KO’s student government!
