Students in 9th to 11th grade gathered in the gym and elected their student board representative, ASBL and class presidents. While some candidates campaigned for over a month to prepare for voting week, from Feb. 24-27, Juniors Rachel Lin and Sandra Ngo ran unopposed for the the positions of ASBL President and Vice President.
To run for ASBL President and Vice President, students must be juniors and members of ASBL. Nine juniors in total qualified for the positions. Of those nine, four ran for Class President and Vice President, two ran for ASBL President and Vice President, and one ran for Student Board Member, leaving only two officially qualified to hold the offices of ASBL President and Vice President, who chose not to run.
Student leaders run unopposed for a variety of reasons. Some feel that ASBL would be better off in someone else’s hands. Although there are an abundance of eligible candidates, there are also many positions available to them, resulting in very few people running for ASBL President and Vice President. Junior Sarah Tomason was one of the ASBL members who was eligible to run but decided not to.
“I knew that Rachel and Sandra were running and I knew that ASBL would be in good hands if they were president and vice president,” Tomason said. “The main reason is that I am trying out for Assemblies Committee which I feel like I will enjoy more and be a better fit for.”
This occurrence is not unique to this school year; but rather a pattern that has repeated itself many times before. Starting in Oak Avenue, class presidents or other members of leadership tend to keep their positions for multiple terms, often times winning with little to no opposition.
“It may not be a good thing for the student body because they didn’t have a choice,” Ngo said. “Although Rachel and I are going to do our absolute best next year and think we’ll be really successful, maybe someone else could do better. We’ll just never know.”
During election week, students from each class are told to bring their student I.D. cards with them as they are herded into the the gym to hear the candidates’ speeches.