The second week of the school year is always hectic with students busily adapting to a new grade and new teachers. It’s during this time that the grade 7 and 8 students of IHMS hold their annual elections to select a new student council president and vice-president.
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Junior high students interested in a position of president or vice-president must first of all be nominated by their peers. Once nominated, they can begin their campaign.
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Campaigning is only for a few days and runs from Monday until Friday of the second week of school. The election, which takes place through a secret vote, is held at the end of the week. This year, the election was held on Friday, September 18th. |
The student council consists of:
- A president (selected from the grade 8 class)
- A vice-president (selected from the grade 7 class)
- Four or five other representatives (mostly selected from the grade 8 class and nominated by their peers).
Every junior-high student is given the chance to cast two votes – one for president and one for vice-president.
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| Posters for three grade 8 girls running for president |
The duties of the student council are to plan Spirit Days (along with the grade 8 teacher, Mrs. Wittevrongel), to help out at special events, to represent the students at special functions, and to help with various fund-raising activities.
There were 5 students from grade 7 running for vice-president:
- Ashlynn A.
- Komalpreet B.
- Myles C.
- Tessa R.
- Serhiy S.
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| The grade 7 candidates running for vice-president (missing – Nadia M.) |
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| A few of the posters created by grade 7 students running for vice-president |
There were 6 students from grade 8 running for president:
- Nina H.
- Jennifer K.
- Janelle K.
- James L.
- Yaroslav P.
- Yelena R.
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| The grade 8 candidates running for president |
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A few of these candidates spent a lot of time and effort making up posters, which were placed throughout the upstairs hallway of the school. Some of the posters appeared to be hastily made but some were interesting and showed a lot of creativity. |
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| A few of the more creative campaign posters found in the hallway |
On the day of the election, the 6 candidates for president gave a short speech about what they plan to do if elected president (this is a test of each candidate’s ability to give a speech – they really don’t have the power to make changes of any kind as president). The speeches took place in the grade 8 classroom in front of the rest of the junior-high students. The ability to deliver a speech is an important part of the selection process because the candidate who is elected president is obligated to give several speeches throughout the year at various special functions (such as the grade 8 graduation dinner).
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| Mr. Picklyk speaking to the grade 7 and 8 students before the speeches |
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Immediately after the speeches, the junior-high students went back to their classes to vote. After careful tabulation, the results of the vote were announced:
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| Nadia M. – vice president | Nina H. – president |