2017 HHS Council Election Guide: The Candidates In Their Own Words

Goals: “As a current Council member, I am on the Student Life committee. Right now, we are working on a project to build a bioshelter to help improve sustainability and community throughout our school. As a committee, we visited Souhegan High School in Amherst, NH. We observed their differences, their strengths, and weaknesses. As a committee, we realized how we could learn from other schools, and improve student life. If elected, I would love to continue this work next year. I will join the Community Service Ad Hoc committee next year and will fight to integrate community service into our curriculum and build it into our school year so everyone will have the opportunity to finish their hours inside of school if they wish.”

Final Pitch: “I’m a very social person. I love to talk to people and take their ideas to Council. I am a year-round athlete and musician and I believe in strong academics. I understand the struggle of balancing homework and extracurricular activities. However, sometimes I’m known to go overboard.”

Goals: “I want to join the Community Service Committee so we can help everyone understand the motion and help make it accessible during school so kids with busy schedules aren’t struggling.”

Final Pitch: “I have always been thought of as a leader in my class, at school, and on my soccer and basketball teams. I know that I will be good at getting my points across, listening to my classmates, and keeping them updated on what’s going on in council; this was a big problem this year.”

Serves on Organization Engineering Committee.

Goals: “The main thing that I would like to accomplish is to create a way for students to work on community service during the day. This would be such a simple and easy solution for everyone to get this requirement done with and out of the way. It also wouldn’t take time out of our already busy schedules, so we wouldn’t have to worry about doing it outside of school.”

Final Pitch: “I also want to make everybody feel included in this school because school should be a safe environment for learning.I feel like I should be elected to Council because I will make the students’ wishes my number one priority, so Vote Clay for a Bigger Say and a Better Day!”

Goals: “I want to make sure that every student feels like their voice is being heard. I will listen to what my class wants and balance that with what is good for the school.”

Final Pitch: “I should be elected to Council because I think I can really help my class as a whole. While I have many flaws a strength I feel I have is that kids can come and talk to me and I will listen.One flaw of mine is that I don’t speak out as much as I should and I would really like to change that. This is one of the reasons I am running for council.”

Goals: “I just hope to improve the school and community.”

Final Pitch: “I feel that I hold strong leadership characteristics from sports, participating in class discussions and from taking a Leadership class. I know that I have a strong voice when I want it to be heard for something important and I feel strongly about. If I am elected to the Council, my views will be my class’s views, not to be tinted with my personal opinion, and they will be heard.”

Serves on Curriculum Committee.

Goals: “Next year, I hope to revisit the homework motion and to address other concerns.”

Final Pitch: “I speak up frequently in Council discussions to advocate for our class and I abstained on the Community Service Graduation Requirement motion when every other voting member voted for it.  I am also very dedicated to representing my class’s opinions as opposed to my own. If I get re-elected, I pledge to represent the Class of 2020 to the best of my abilities.”

Serves on Organizational Engineering Committee.

Serves on Student Activities Committee.

Goals: “After passing the community service motion recently, my goal in Council next year is to help build service days into the curriculum to make it as fun and as easy as possible for students to get in their 10 hours of service each year.”

Final Pitch: “When it comes to leadership, I am very comfortable talking to my class about any issues and I am prepared to hear their thoughts on the service motion, such as how they would like it to be different, or any suggestions they have to make it successful.”

Goals: “If I am elected, I hope to change parts of the Community Service Motion that recently passed. I also hope to bring healthier and more affordable options to the cafeteria and guarantee that every student receives a real X-period in all their classes.”

Final Pitch: “Believe in Stephen!”

Serves on Curriculum Committee

Goals: “Recently, some have felt dissatisfied by council’s decisions, and I intend to represent some less-voiced opinions regarding the Community Service Graduation Requirement Motion.  The point of such volunteer work is to be voluntary, and by requiring 40 hours of service to graduate, the motion inhibits a student’s ability to focus on the education that the community provides.  A better way to give back, would be to provide some incentive for different amounts of community service and make it a voluntary offering. This allows a HHS student to contribute to the community as they see fit, giving more community-oriented students some compensation for their work whilst allowing those with other ambitions to spend their time freely to advance their own interests.  Of course, this is not the only option, and I am open to other suggestions.”

Final Pitch: “As a Council representative, I will do my best to represent the students in this school.  I have experience in school politics and have taken part in two different school councils since my time as a middle schooler.  I have held the positions of president, vice president, and treasurer, and I know how to get things done in a parliamentary environment.  Of course, effective representation will require contribution on everyone’s part, and I look forward to working with the council and the student body to make this school a better place for everyone.”

Serves on Administrative Committee.

Goals: “If re-elected to Council this year, I would, firstly, be so happy and excited to have another year on Council, and secondly, work very hard to bring the motion I’m working on. I also want to be on Council to help see that the community service graduation requirement motion is carried out in a way that all students can get their hours easily and happily.”

Final Pitch: “I believe I should be elected to Council because I am a leader. As a current Council member, I tell my Common Ground each week what we did in Council (even if they don’t really want to hear it). If there is a controversial motion, I try to discuss it with my fellow students and hear their thoughts. I not only keep my Common Ground updated but also my friends (again, even if they don’t always want to hear it). I think one of my biggest strengths as a leader is not being afraid to reach out and share my opinion but also listen to others’ and see where they are coming from. I think one of my flaws as a leader is my public speaking skills since I am sometimes still that awkward middle schooler (but hey at least I acknowledge the problem right?). Anyway, being on Council this school year was an absolute pleasure and I really hope I get the chance again next year to serve. Vote Roro 2017!!”

Goals: “I hope to accomplish many things while in Council, but a really important issue to me is climate change and our planet Earth. Ever since the [Presidential] election in November, I have seen no improvements in trying to stop global warming by the US government. On the contrary, other countries, such as Scotland and Germany, have made enormous efforts to change their impact on the planet’s resources. I plan to reduce the amount of paper, energy, and materials we use as a school.”

Final Pitch: “I believe I should be elected to council because I am a new voice in Hanover. Last summer, I moved here from outside of Boston; I loved my school government there. I believe I am a great leader and I am always open to new ideas for the school and community. If elected to council, I would represent the new students. It was hard transitioning in a place where I knew nobody but over the year I became more comfortable here. In my opinion, it is important to have a student coming from another school on Council so they can voice their past experiences.”

Reporter’s note: Mr. Minshall’s response were taken from excerpts of the speech he gave in the Atrium on May 5. He provided his speech as a response to the Broadside.

Goals: “Accountability is an essential part of any functioning democracy. It is important that accountability extend beyond just records and forms. Accountability and accessibility must go hand in hand to make our community a more fair place. That is why I propose Council devote at least one period per semester for questions and an honest discussion with the student body… The second part of my vision for our school is freedom. In an environment of freedom, affronts to our religious liberty such as the swastikas recently drawn on parked cars are unacceptable. We need to add an additional three days to the standard vandalism punishment for symbols of hate and division. In addition, we must show our community and our country that religious freedom will never die at our school.  With high profile figures like Secretary DeVos trying to push religious agendas in public schools, we must prove no battle is too small to fight for the constitutional idea of religious liberty by protecting every religion possible in any motion… If elected I will never vote for any motion that favors one group over another. We also need to find a way to make sure that any motion passed is fair to our religiously unaffiliated students. The gender motion was an important step towards freedom and I am very excited at the merger of the Rainbow Alliance club and the Inclusivity Committee. Working together with Outright Vermont, I am confident we can make our school a safer and more welcoming environment for the LGBTQ community and if elected I will be happy to aid in that process.  Lastly, freedom means liberty from unfair mandates and forced labor. Let me be clear: philosophically, I believe the purview of student government is not to foist morality on the student body but to instill it within them. However, it is my belief that every student should do community service and now that the [Community Service] motion has passed my goal will be to make it as fair and attainable as it possibly can be . The service committees work is far from over as we need to find more opportunities for our entire school to participate in service.”

Final Pitch: “I have always believed that good government should  be about two things: policy and people. As your representative, I will always put what is just, right, and fair first. Good government should also be about accessibility; that’s why throughout the rest of this campaign and [my time in Council] if I win, I will respond to any questions or concerns that the Class of 2019 has about our campaign or the work that Council is doing. As your Council member, I will respect the limits of Council’s power and above all the  rights of each student.”

Chair of Curriculum Committee.

Goals: “This year I hope to accomplish at least three things specifically. First, I hope to pass a motion about homework over breaks. As it stands, homework technically can be assigned over breaks but it is suggested that it is not. I’m working on a motion that would make homework assigned the week before break and due the week after break have to be due a certain amount of days after break (I’m still working out the details.) Second, I hope to pass a motion setting a standard for X periods and what they would entail, meaning that what an X period means would be the same in all classes and you would know exactly what to expect from an X period from any class. Third, I hope to increase communication between Council and the rest of the school. As these past few weeks have shown, much of the school doesn’t know what’s going on in Council most of the time. Council had been discussing the Community Service Graduation Motion for multiple weeks before the discussion really reached everyone else because people didn’t know it was being discussed. I think it’s incredibly important that this doesn’t happen, especially when discussing motions that impact the school this much. I currently give Council reports to two common grounds every week but in the future I plan on posting the agenda in my class every week to make sure people know what’s going on and keeping Council accountable.”

Final Pitch: “I should be elected to Council because I have lots of Council experience having been on Council for the past two years and have served on the Organizational Engineering Committee (2015-2016) and the Curriculum (which I am currently a chair of) and Executive Committees this past year; I am a good leader; and am more that willing to continue to dedicate the time and effort that it takes to be a good and effective Council Rep.”

Goals: “When elected, I hope to be able to help solve problems based around things such as homework, staff-student relations, and extra-curricular activities. More specifically, I would like to be able to bring in a motion that would address the date that a test is announced in relation to when it is due. I would also like to address absences and how they affect extra curricular activities. However I realize that I am only one person with one experience. I would want to see which issues are troubling students at our school and bring it as an issue to Council, whether I agree with it or not.”

Final Pitch: “As an elected representative, the job is to represent people. While the current Council members are doing a fantastic job on Council currently, I am unsure whether they represent the current demographic of our school. I am a relatively average student but I don’t feel like I am being represented by council. That is why I think I should be elected.”

Serves on Student Activities Committee.

Goals: “I hope that if I am re-elected to Council I would serve as a helpful liaison between Council and the student body. I feel as though there’s a lack of communication between Council and the general public this year and that resulted in initial haste towards the community service motion. If I were on Council I will work harder to communicate Council discussions to my class and to the school. I will also encourage people to come to the meetings and share their voices!”

Final Pitch: “I should be elected to Council because I really enjoy Council and am passionate about this school sharing mutual ideals. I want to help HHS become a school that is cognizant of problems that Council is trying to solve and where everyone shares a passion for our student government. I think that I’m a suitable person to represent the class of 2019 because I know a lot of the concerns revolving around the school and am happy to answer questions and share my thoughts about Council to anyone who will listen.”

Serves on Student Activities Committee.

Final Pitch: “This year in Council I spent a lot of time being silent and trying to figure out the ropes. I spent a lot of time this year talking with people in this school about the Community Service Motion. I think that I was good at portraying everyone’s views.”

Goals: “Hanover High School students have so much stress, including me. I think that this results from many factors, but one of the most problematic is because teachers forget about the homework rules. Technically, according to the school handbook, teachers are not allowed to assign homework after school, nor are they allowed to give homework over breaks. However, many teachers forget about this rules and/or they don’t know about it and this stresses the students out (even over breaks when they should be enjoying their time off of school). I have thought about ways in which I could solve this problem; one way may be to create a response box where people could write their problems about homework on a piece of paper anonymously and place it in the box. They could write the details of what is going on in a class and how the students are stressed out. Then, once a week a group of council members could open up the box and try to solve some of these problems by talking to the teachers. Another solution could be to send weekly emails, (especially before long breaks) to remind the teachers about the homework policies written in the school handbook. This way, the teachers can be reminded of the policies; I think that there would be less teachers who would forget about the policies.”

Final Pitch: “I should be elected to Council because, as I said earlier, I am someone who is not typically represented in Council, and I think I can bring a different view of the school. Although I am very quiet and don’t speak up very often, I am a good leader and I believe that leadership is practice. I was the secretary for my middle school Jr. Beta Club, and I am also the NH representative of the Music Mission Outreach Program. I play the violin and am a member of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. Playing the violin, I have been concertmaster for many orchestras, and I know the happiness of finishing an orchestra concert after many long rehearsals and struggles that we, as an orchestra, had. Being concertmaster, you have to take responsibility of the whole orchestra and make sure that you communicate with both the conductor and with the whole orchestra. Through these experiences, I have gained many leadership skills; they will definitely guide me when in Council.”

Serves on Student Life Committee.

Goals: Currently, I am working on three motions. One is about lowering homework on the weekends, and another one is about allocating money to the school’s compost program; I am collaborating with Romaney on a motion about teachers needing to be present for tests to be taken. I hope that within the next year these motions can be finalized, discussed and passed through Council. I also really want the student body to have a more positive feeling toward Council this year.”

Final Pitch: “I am so passionate about Council; I really enjoy being a part of the democratic process at Hanover High School. As I said earlier, I am a member of the Environmental Club as well as class committee, student life committee, the cross country team, the Nordic ski team, and the track team. I work with people all over the school in these various activities and I love to talk to them about Council and what’s going on. I consider myself a leader in class and outside of class as I speak up and take initiative often. I try hard to be empathetic and hear the other side of arguments as well. A weakness of mine is that I am a fairly disorganized person and that can put a damper on my leadership abilities. Overall, I consider myself to be an electable candidate and will work hard to make the best decisions for my class!!”

Serves on Administrative Committee.

Chair of Organization Engineering Committee.

Goals: “For Council next year, my goals are to help facilitate the growth of the community service Ad Hoc committee as well as to help ease the transition with the new graduation requirement motion.”

Final Pitch: “I should be elected to Council because I am a strong leader who wants to do what is best for the school. I will use our student body’s opinions in order to create effective and passable motions.”

Chair of Student Activities Committee.

Goals: “Council had a couple of discussions regarding mental health this year. Although the discussion was incredibly valuable, since we never passed a motion the discussion didn’t end up reaching the entire student body. Next year I would love to revisit the topic of mental health and hear the opinions of the entire school. I would also like to revisit the homework motion. Over the past few years, many steps have been taken in reducing the amount of homework at Hanover High. However, between all of the surveys and committees, a motion hasn’t been made.”

Final Pitch: “I think I’m well-suited for Council because I know exactly what’s expected of me through my three years of experience. I know how a Council meeting runs and how to help it run as efficiently as possible. I’ve learned to only use speaking time when I have new ideas to bring to the table instead of reiterating old ideas for the sake of speaking. I also think that I’m a valuable member of Council because I genuinely care about Council and I’m invested in its success.”

Final Pitch: “I can talk to a lot of people. I encompass lots of points of view. I will put my point of view in on each case. I will seek out opinions from the student body, whether they be majority opinions or individual opinions. I will not base my vote solely on my own opinion.”

Serves on Administrative Committee.

Final Pitch: “I believe I should be elected to Council because I want to help improve our school and its community. When I get involved with something, I dedicate myself to it fully and I will apply that same dedication and focus to my position on Council. I have not always been as outspoken as I should’ve been in past years on Councils and I will work on vocalizing my opinion more if I am re-elected to Council.”

Serves on Curriculum Committee.

Currently representative to Dresden School Board.

Goals: “This year, I drafted the Community Service Graduation Requirement Motion with help from the Service Ad Hoc Committee which I chair. Now that the wording has been passed, the real work begins. My goal next year with Council is to implement the requirement so that it can be effective, empowering, impactful, and most importantly, fun. I’m really excited to work with: students to give them ideas, hear their stories, and solicit feedback; staff to help motivate, engage, and teach service, while preaching what they’re teaching; and administration to ensure smooth and efficient enforcement. I’m really psyched to see what good our student body can do in our community when given the perfect excuse to go give back!”

Final Pitch: “Naturally, I’m a talker. I talk a lot in Council meetings and in most other things in life. This year, my leadership style will shift more towards me being a listener. I want to hear what you have to say about the requirement. I want to hear what’s working, and more crucially, I want to hear what’s not. This is a fluid process, and next year is our exciting test run! Really listening without inserting my own opinion has never come very easily to me, but next year, it’s my goal.”

Serves on Student Life Committee.

Goals: “My focus next year if I am elected is to work on more efficient ways that action can be taken to change the school. So many students have suggestions and ideas, no matter how small, that could be relatively easy to implement in the school. I have been on the Student Life committee for the past three years and I think that this committee could be a great way to help create constant improvement in the school. My most recent thought has been how many paper towels our school throws away each day. No one seems to question our use of paper towels, but this is an example of a small aspect of the school that could be changed if the students were passionate about it. Next year I hope to change the amount of paper towels we use, as well as continuing my work on the new Ecology Center project that Student Life has been looking into for the past few months, as well as seeing how we could improve the caf. I am also interested in reaching out more to the student body for specific suggestions that they would like to see change in the school.”

Final Pitch: “I am not the most outspoken person but over my two years of experience on Council I have learned how to voice my opinion effectively and make it count. I listen carefully at every meeting and report the main issues to my common ground. I also work hard and am a leader within my committee. I listen to the opinions of the general student body as well as the ideas within council and vote with the intention of doing what is best for the school. I prioritize Council and have missed school to go on a trip to look at Souhegan and how HHS can learn from them. I was also a driving force in the current presentation and discussion about the new addition of the Ecology Center and how it would be designed and used. My experience and knowledge with Council and specifically the Student Life committee would help me make next year on Council more effective.”

Serves on Student Activities Committee.

Goals: “I don’t have any specific legislative goals but I really want to make Council more accessible (through Common Ground, etc.) so that we can better voice the opinions of the school.”

Final Pitch: “I feel I have had experience of being on Council for two years and am comfortable talking about issues we are discussing outside of Council.”

Final Pitch: “We need your help. I need your help. Unity, not harsh division, is the answer to our school Council’s overstepping their authority. Students of HHS, I want to support you all. Not the teachers. Not outside organizations. Only our hard-working students. Vote Harrison Silbert for Council as we all wish for a better tomorrow!”
Reporter’s note: These responses were taken as excerpts from Mr. Silbert’s speech in the Atrium on May 8. He submitted his speech as his response to the Broadside. In his “Goals” statement, he is referring to the Community Service Graduation Requirement Motion.

Serves on Curriculum Committee.

Serves on Student Life Committee.

Goals: “If re-elected, I want to continue work on the design of the Ecology Center, a building intended to expose students to ecological principles and in turn prepare them for the environmental challenges of the future, as well as creating a space dedicated to the democratic process. I would also like to continue my position on the Observances Ad Hoc committee in our efforts to create homework accommodations for observant students. In terms of my individual legislative goals, if elected, I want to draft a motion that raises awareness about the exploitation of garment workers and encourages HHS to buy sweatshop-free apparel. I would also like to introduce more environmentally focused motions to Council that target issues like reducing the amount of plastic HHS goes through and strengthening our compost awareness and program. In addition, as an overall goal, I would like to work toward forging better communication between Council and the school body in the hope of engaging more students with Council and in turn providing Council with better student feedback.”  

Final Pitch: “I consider myself to be a very good listener who tries to understand all perspectives on a particular issue. If elected, I would bring this same desire to listen to and consider everyone’s opinion fairly to Council. I also strive to be a proactive and enthusiastic member on Council. I’m willing to put in the time to fully understand a motion as well as volunteer on subcommittees and Ad Hocs as I have done this year. I’m also unafraid to stand up for an issue I believe in. At the same time, as much as I endeavor to be the most active and informed member of Council I can be, I think my greatest flaw is that I’m introverted and speaking in front of the Council body can be very daunting. However, over the course of this year, I’ve strived to overcome my introverted nature and now that I’ve become more comfortable with the structure of Council and its members, speaking up no longer seems like such an obstacle.”

Serves on Student Life Committee.

Goals: “My goal is to provide institutional history on issues and to confirm that all angles are considered in every discussion.”

Final Pitch: “I try to keep everyone’s best interests in mind when voting. I’m pretty average at everything I do, and my weaknesses are too numerous to list, but I care deeply about the institution and I do my job earnestly, without fanfare, and without complaining (most of the time).”

Goals: “My broad goal is to find ways to foster a deeper spirit of giving back and and a stronger sense of gratitude in the HHS community. One specific goal is to help make the community service requirement work, even though I was strongly opposed to the motion.”

Final Pitch: “Since this is my 20th year at Hanover High, I feel I am able to bring some knowledge of the history and culture of HHS and the Council. I think an understanding of the past is important when planning for the future.”

Serves on Student Activities Committee.

Goals: “If I am elected to Council again, I will hear a diverse group of opinions and balance the needs of individuals with the best-interests of the school. I intend to make informed decisions that are representative of the good of the whole.”

Final Pitch: “As a member of the Counseling Department, I am fortunate to interface with all staff, as well as students and families on my caseload. Helping students find their “best selves” as they navigate the ups and downs of high school is one of my favorite aspects of the job. If elected to Council, I will bring good listening skills, as well as an informed perspective of how to serve the needs of students, staff, and the greater community.”

Serves on Administrative Committee.

Serves on Administrative Committee.

Goals: “At this point, I do not have any specific legislative goals. I am very pleased that the community service motion passed, so I would like to help with the work that is needed to make it happen. I served on the Inclusivity Committee this year, so I would like to continue to work on helping members of the LGTBQ community to feel supported at the school, while also thinking about other groups in the school who feel they lack representation.”

Final Pitch: “I was honored to be one of the recipients of the Skip Bean Award this year for the work I did to organize the Common Ground presentation on gender. I think one of my strengths is that I work really hard, so I am a good person to have on a committee.”

Serves on Organization Engineering Committee.

Goals: “I have no specific legislative agenda to address as a member of Council.”

Final Pitch: “–I am a thoughtful representative of the staff and I listen carefully to the opinions of my Common Ground. I am a good listener and will follow through on tasks and ideas. However, I would like to learn more about and be more comfortable with Roberts Rules of Order and be able to speak up more at Council meetings in the future.”

Serves on Student Life Committee.

Has worked extensively with the Student Life Committee on Ecological Democracy Project.

Goals: “My primary goal is to help Council and the school design and create a truly innovative and advanced setting for school democracy and community.  Secondarily, I would hope to participate in a larger discussion around sustainability and democracy.”

Final Pitch: “As the sustainability curriculum staff person, I bring specialized training and background that can be useful in the creative and practical challenges of design and construction of a green space.  I also hope to work closely with teachers and students to optimize the greater curricular opportunities surrounding ecology and governance. My qualifications include a Masters in Education in Educating for Sustainability, decades of “hands-on” experience in working with and teaching about alternative food and energy systems, and I co-designed and built a sustainable home, off-the-grid, that my family and I have been living in for 30 years.”