On March 24th, the class of 2020 voted for their class officers. The winners were Tenzin Shakya as President, Christine Nguyen as Vice President, Brenda Dias as Social Media Coordinator, Debora De Souza as Historian, Jacky Luong as Treasurer, and Olivia Santangelo as the Secretary. The advisor for their class is Holland House guidance counselor Caitlin Quinn.
Quinn decided to be the advisor because she saw it as an “exciting role, where [she] could work with student until they graduate, watch them grow, and see the change that they will make throughout high school.” Regarding the election results, Quinn said she was “excited for those who won the opportunity to lead the class,” but that she would have been happy with any of the candidates. Quinn’s goal as the advisor for the class is to help them “develop a mission for what they want to achieve and helping them work towards those goals.”
Luong spoke kindly of Quinn saying that he “feel[s] lucky to have her as [his] advisor,” because he thinks that “she’s dedicated in helping [the class] make the best decisions that [they] can and will be able to assist [them] in many ways. Nguyen added to this, saying that she looks forward to what the student council will be able to accomplish with Quinn as their advisor, describing her as a “very kind and intelligent person.” Shakya mentioned that he is “excited to work with Quinn since [they] are both new to these positions, and [he] feel[s] really happy to have her”. Dias mentions that Quinn “has a good energy, and [has] worked with her on the spirit team, so [she] communicate[s] with her well”.
The officers all had various reasons for deciding to campaign. Luong said that he “decided to run for treasurer because [he] was interested in contributing to [his] class in any way that [he] could,” with Santangelo adding that she “really wanted to be an active part of [her] class and be a contribution to its success.” Meanwhile, Nguyen decided to run for Vice President because going into high school she already knew she “wanted to be involved in the student council because [she] had experience with it in middle school and had really enjoyed it.” Souza thought it was a good idea because this way she would know that the job would be in good hands since she would “work hard to do a good job and [she] love[s] to take pictures anyway.” Shakya said that apart from just wanting to contribute to it, he also “wanted to get closer to the class”. Dias mentioned that since she “has experience in social media [she] thought [she'd] be useful and that it would be a good challenge for [her]”
All of the candidates were thrilled to find out that they won. Both Luong and Nguyen describe themselves as being speechless when their names were announced, but were also very joyed. Santangelo was “very excited to hear that [she] won,” and also slightly nervous to see what will come from it. Souza, while running unopposed, was still happy to hear her name being announced, and is “very excited to work with the other class officers, and see what [they] will get done”.
The officers are all pleased about being elected by their classmates and are going in with goals already in mind. Souza is going in hoping to achieve “doing the best that [she] possibly can, working well with the other class officers, and overall having the year go smoothly.”
Santangelo wants to “unite [their] class as a whole and to make sure [they] are all working together not only for the best prom but the best next three years [they] have left here.”
Shakya added that he “hopes to achieve one of the greatest proms in Malden High's history, and to have more students volunteer in the fundraisers [they] hold”, with Dias also mentioning that she “hope[s] to get as many people as possible in [her] grade to contribute and to have a good high school experience”.
Coming up, the class is hoping to plan a couple of fundraisers for the upcoming school year. For those who were not able to become officers, Quinn mentioned that the class is considering coming up with a communications or a fundraising team for students who still want to involved with the class, so stay on the lookout for that.
