With our nation’s mid-term elections right around the corner, the elections here at Benjamin are already over. That’s right, the Middle School Student Council winners are eighth-grader Jessica Holland (president), eighth-grader Katia Orsic (vice president), seventh grader Emerson Ferry (secretary), and seventh grader Maggie Smith (treasurer). How will these girls make an impact at our school?

“The plans for the future are still unknown, but nonetheless, they will be exciting and fun,” said Ferry, who is in her second year as student council member.

Like her fellow officers, Ferry is enthusiastic about serving the student body this year.

“When I found out [I was elected in student council], I was really excited because I worked really hard to write my speech,” she said. “I am really excited to serve on Student Council because I want to show the school what I have and maybe be president next year.”

Student Council Co-Advisor Mr. Nathan Ginnetty admitted it was a close race and explained the jobs of some of the officers.

“Every candidate got at least 40 votes, so yes, it was a close year,” he said. “Now that the election results are in, Jessica Holland runs the meetings and treasurer [Maggie Smith] helps keep track of the money and finances. The whole Student Council also thinks of themes for dances and other events,” said Ginnetty.

Smith is enjoying her new role as treasurer.

“I take control of the money,” she said. “During bagel sales, I organize the money box and then during student council meetings, along with Mr. Ginnetty, I count it and then we decide what we want to spend more money on.”

Unlike in year’s past, the election process for Student Council was different this year.

“This year students and teachers had the opportunity to vote for a slate of candidates and then the Student Council decided who would be treasurer, secretary, and vice president,” said Ginnetty.  

“[Faculty] voted because we are all part of the community,” he said. “Some of the faculty know the students better than some [of the] new students.” This is different from years past where students would run against one another for each position.

Also different this year was that, instead of all the candidates giving three-minute speeches on the day of the elections about how they wanted to change the Middle School, the candidates were limited to 30-second speeches this year that pertained to one of the 12 TBS values they possess. The speeches were given during Monday morning assemblies in the weeks leading up to the election day: October 1.

Ginnetty and his co-advisor, history teacher Mrs. Anne Franzen, felt the method needed to be revamped in order to have the most qualified students fill the positions.

“This year’s student council elections focused on leadership and people’s ability to lead, not [it] being a popularity contest,” said Franzen.  

The Student Council had nine students running for the four different positions this year as opposed to only the five that ran last year. The students that ran for Secretary, Vice President, and Treasurer were seventh graders Xan Blount, Clair Dinh, Emerson Ferry, Michael Louis, Colby Mack, Tristan Mack, and Maggie Smith. Running for president were eighth graders Katia Orsic and Jessica Holland, and their names were also on the larger ballot, meaning that whoever didn’t win the presidency had the opportunity to land one of the other officer positions. That’s exactly what happened as Holland won the presidential election and Orsic nabbed the position of vice president.

“I am excited to be the student body president,” said Holland. “I wasn’t afraid to put myself out there because I had run last year and I knew what it took to get in,” she said.

Because the Student Council has an open-door policy, students can come to their representatives with any suggestions that they think will improve the school, and those ideas will be discussed in the student council meetings.

However, just what those ideas are haven’t been explored yet.

“Our goals for the future are yet to be decided,” said Smith.

*Staff reporters Chase Malamala and Canyon Rauch also contributed to this article.