In the past, many Mountaineers have run for Student Council, with spots filling up rapidly, and candidates actively engaging with their peers. In recent years, however, this has changed, as student participation has plummeted along with any previous enthusiasm towards elections.
One major change has been the shift from in-person to online elections. When in-person the students who ran, presented themselves in a formal manner in front of their grade, creating a sense of excitement and importance around the process of running.
“Students used to dress up nicely for the in-person elections, but during the online ones, a lot of students sit behind a screen either in their bedroom, car, or kitchen and make a quick video in their after school clothes,” said math teacher and Student Council advisor Becky Moisan.
Many students agree that they would rather see an engaging in-person speech, instead of the online presentations the candidates have done these past few years.
“I would prefer to see an in person speech because then you are forced to watch them, rather than looking on your own time,” said sophomore Isabel Abdella.
Students also feel an in person election helps candidates better communicate their ideas, especially when it comes to giving their speeches.
“I would want to see an in-person speech because there’s more interaction, and it’s easier to get the point over with in person rather than online,” said freshman Ethan Terrill.
According to teachers, having in-person elections increases excitement and eagerness between students, but becomes more stressful for the candidates who run.
“It’s always exciting but nervous to have in-person elections, especially for the students who are running, since they have a lot to prepare for,” Moisan said.
Another issue is that many students do not listen to the online speeches by candidates, the most common reason being because they did not know about them.
“I didn’t even know that there were speeches on Google Classroom that you had to watch and vote for. I only found out about them a week later,” said freshman Annika Kindorf.
Many students suggested that specific times be dedicated to watching the online speeches as a way to increase participation in the election and bring attention to the speeches.
“I think that the school should make it mandatory to watch the elections and have a specified time to do so,” said Abdella.
However, organizing in-school elections presents a challenging task for staff.
“It’s difficult to plan, manage, and create time in school for elections, since the schedule for the whole day would have to be rearranged and fixed to fit those speeches in. Having the option of online speeches is way easier for time management and organization,” said Moisan.
This challenge extends to the candidates as well. Students said they have little time to run for Student Council due to outside activities.
“Personally I am pretty busy with school, work, and extracurricular activities, so I wouldn’t have time to go to the meetings after school,” said junior Josh Ford.
Others believe that the effort and time required to be a part of Student Council may not be worth it.
“People are pretty busy nowadays, having lots of other activities after school and at home, so they can’t make much of a commitment to the Student Council,” said sophomore Natalie Woodbury.
Students suggested, to increase participation, teachers and administrators should have better advertising for elections.
“There should be more posters put around the school, but not too many, because it could get repetitive and people would just start ignoring them,” said senior Dan Luong.
Students said teachers should emphasize how being a part of Student Council can help with their future success and skills in life.
“If staff in the school let students know that being on Student Council helps with college applications then I think that more people would participate, especially if they are aiming to be in a good college,” said Ford.
According to students, the introduction of social media could also be a reason for the little participation.
“Back before social media (including) Snapchat, people were way less afraid to speak their minds out to the public. But now that kids can record you and use anything against you. There’s more of a risk that students have to take,” said junior Nick Buraczenski.
Popularity also plays a role in discouraging students from running.
“I think that running for student council can be a nerve racking experience for people especially if they are shy which is why a lot of people might not want to run for a position,” said Woodbury.
Kindorf agreed, saying, “I think that the voting is most definitely based on popularity and the best known students in the school. Most students who are elected, shouldn’t be, as some don’t do much to improve the school and its society.”
Finally, students expressed frustration with the limited number of options when voting.
“There were very few options to pick when voting, so I didn’t really get a say in who I actually wanted to vote for,” said Buraczenski.
