Many students believe that running for a high school student council position is a popularity contest. Childhood Disney movies such as Princess Protection Program will attest to this through the campaign process with their insulting posters and bribes all to win the popular vote. But like the United States’ founding fathers finding flaws in relying solely on the popular vote, the EHS StudCo has implemented an application process where the popular vote only counts for 40% of the candidates’ final score.

“There are quite a bit of pieces that go into the application. What the advisors are trying to get is a view from teachers with their recommendations, a view from [the applicant] and what [they] want to achieve through student council questionnaire that [the council] ask, and a view from the students,” senior student council member Russell Spence said.

The council will host meetings at all lunches the week before spring break for students interested in running for student council. The first step in applying for student council is the completion of the general application. “[The applicant] signs a piece of paper and has [their] parents sign it and read over all of the rules. [The applicant] has to complete that along with the online questionnaire, which is just an online google form, and send two recommendations, one from a teacher and one from another unrelated adult,” Spence said. 

“It’s not really steps, but it is an equation,” senior council member Shea Crowley said. Aside from the 40% of each candidate’s score that comes from the popular vote, the questionnaire is worth 25%, the teacher evaluation is worth 20%, and the adult recommendation is worth 15%. Beware that all students who plan to run must have passed all of their classes from the previous semester and maintain a minimum of 2.0 GPA. There are also strict campaign rules against any poster demeaning opposing candidates, and each poster must be signed for approval by a member of the administration.

Four seniors on Student Council were asked to give their number one piece of advice for students planning to apply:

Meredith Buenz: “If you really want to do it, run! I didn’t make it when I ran my freshman year or sophomore year and I made it for my junior year. So if you really want to do it just keep on trying because you might as well.”

Grace Daly: “Work hard at every part of the application, and also let it show. Because something that I always put a lot of work into were my posters, and even though they may not seem like the biggest deal, it’s reassuring to know that you put your hardest work into every element of the application.”

Clara Bils: “I would say make sure that you show all sides of yourself on the application especially for the questionnaire. Like if you play a sport, there are different questions that include like ‘What is a leadership position you have?’ or ‘What was a time where you faced an issue?’ those are two of the questions, and if both of those relate to playing the same sport, that just sometimes doesn’t give them the whole view into who you are as a person and what you are capable of. So I think just touching on all of your activities you do is important.  Exaggerate who you can represent and what shoes you can fill on the council.”

Shea Crowley: “Feel free to reach out to current council members and ask for help on your application. Especially the council seniors would love to help. Just send the council an email if you miss a meeting or need help with anything at all and are confused about any of the steps.”