May 10, 2023 by Olivia Clemmensen (‘26)
The Student Council for the 2023-2024 school year has now been voted for and its members are all anxious to make a change to our school. Whether it be by increasing school spirit, spreading kindness and understanding towards others, or by strengthening the communication between our administration and student body, Saratoga Springs High School’s newly elected Student Council and class officers are ready to take on the upcoming year.
For all four graduating classes at Saratoga Springs High School (SSHS), there are class officers. Their jobs are to organize events, serve as leaders, and spread awareness throughout their grade level. There is also a student council (STUCO) for the entire school, who too are leaders and organize many of the exciting occurrences that many students enjoy. Not only this, but all our student government advocates for the SSHS student body voices, tries to improve high school experiences, and communicates closely with the SSHS staff and administrators like Principal Tsao, and the many assistant principals. STUCO, the SSHS administration, and class officers all collaborate and frequently meet to share ideas and address arising issues regarding our school.
Benjamin Slavett is a sophomore this year at SSHS. Last week, he got elected to be Student Council President and is hoping to help facilitate a greater sense of community and inclusion within SSHS. Slavett is currently the treasurer of the class of 2025 and is participating in many clubs such as Best Buddies, Amnesty International, The Lightning Rod, and others. He is not just hoping to be the voice of students’ concerns on safety, bias, health, and quality of education, but is also hoping to be a mentor to the student body and make them aware that he will advocate for their interests to the best of his abilities. When thinking about next year as STUCO president, Slavett says, “I plan on organizing events that the student body find entertaining and engaging. I’m keen on getting input and taking advice. I plan on making a more interconnected student and staff relationship.” Reach Ben Slavett at bslavett@sscsd.net.
Eleanor McNamara and Darren Pasek have been elected by the SSHS student body to represent SSHS students at the Board of Education (BOE). Both McNamara and Pasek have had experiences in student government before. McNamara was the vice president of her class sophomore year of high school and has “continued to help the Class of 2024.” “I tried to make a more inclusive environment by advocating for meetings in which all students could attend and voice their opinions,” she added. For Pasek, he had a more “average” leadership role the last time he was involved with student government. He was president of his class last year as a freshman during the 21-22 school year. “Honestly, I was a very average leader. I sort of went through the motions and then decided not to re-run, and I never felt quite right about the lack of effort I put in.” While Pasek said he did aid in fundraisers and activities, he adds that “I think I fit better as a BOE Rep., and my successor (Sam Chaucer), is doing a phenomenal job.”
Their job will be to “make sure the student body’s concerns and voices are heard by the school board and administration,” Pasek explained. Both Pasek and McNamara will present a list of topics and ideas to the school board at board meetings, and as BOE reps., “[we] will be present at all school board meetings and will represent student interests […] regarding student issues, questions, concerns, and successes,” adds McNamara. Both SSHS BOE representatives for the coming school year are hoping to serve as mediators between the school board, administration, and the student body at SSHS. They aim to assist in increasing students’ knowledge of the changes occurring at SSHS and the rules that are applied. As Pasek said, “I hope to help students better understand the logic behind the rules. In the short term, I would love to see more civilized and productive board meetings. I plan to do what I can to keep the meetings on track.” Their theory is that if more students are aware and up to date on the behind-the-scenes work of the administration, school board, and student government, students will want to become more involved and feel a better sense of community.
For the new BOE representatives, transparency is one of their many goals for the new school year, and they aim to improve communications between all members of the SSHS community including administration, students, and board. “I think a lot of people in Saratoga, me included, have very unjustified, entitled opinions on subjects we know very little about. Bringing more transparency would allow for more understanding of why people make decisions or act the way they do,” Pasek reflected. Bringing more knowledge to light for the student body and facilitating more understanding and connection is something that Pasek wants to do this coming year. His goal is to see more productive board meetings and make students feel like the environment that they go to school in is accepting, empathetic, and optimistic. Darren hopes to “make the most of [his BOE rep.] opportunity.”
Another aspect of SSHS that these BOE representatives want to make their mark upon is inclusivity and awareness within our school, for the students of SSHS. McNamara is hoping to help in promoting the No Place for Hate program by raising awareness of differences in students and growing a more “safe and inclusive environment for all students in Saratoga Springs School District.” She hopes to be approachable and hopes “that the SSHS student body will be able to reach out to [her] if they have any questions or want [her] to share anything with the board. [She] wants to promote how any student can express their opinion and advocate for change.” Reach Darren Pasek or Eleanora McNamara with any questions at dpasek@sscsd.net and emcnamara@sscsd.net.
Matthew DiGeso is the newly re-elected class of 2024 president for the 23-24 school year. DiGeso wants to finish the work he started this year and continue to raise money for his class and connect with students. He is hoping to try and motivate his class and increase event participation. DiGeso is currently working on SSHS clubs being able to incorporate as non-profit organizations. “One aspect that I am actively working on is clubs. Currently, clubs are not able to identify as nonprofit organizations which really hurts them financially due to taxes, and fundraising. I’m actually going to give a speech to the Board of Education this month to try and get this fixed,” DiGeso said. The current junior class president believes that the division and disconnection are shown through the lack of participation and community within SSHS, and says that needs fixing. He hopes that “next year, students participate more and that the stigma of being embarrassed goes away.” “I hope to lead our school class did becoming a very active school like it was pre-COVID,” DiGeso added. Reach Matt DiGeso at mdigeso1@sscsd.net.
Sam Chaucer is currently the class of 2025’s president and will be continuing his position into the next year. Chaucer reflected on the previous year and said, “we did so much this past year, and I felt like we can achieve more as the team matures!” Chaucer has a lot of student government history, he was vice president in 9th grade, president in 10th grade this year, and now is president again for the 23-24 school year. Over the course of this school year, the 2025 government “took any ideas from the class and brought them up at meetings. Fundraising was a main goal, so we also sold stickers, t-shirts, etc. To make money for our prom! We really just wanted to convey stability to our class,” stated Chaucer. As for plans for the next year, 2025’s president is hoping to hold more fundraisers, increase the student government’s Instagram activity, and set up “events that people want to go to.” Sam is hoping that the relationship through the 2025 class will continue to grow in a positive direction and continue to work together to make high school enjoyable for all. Not only this, but Chaucer wants his fellow class to know that he is “in this position to benefit them” and that his goal is to be viewed as a “kind, trustworthy person who sets up fun events, and organizes a really exciting prom!”
Working alongside Chaucer in the upcoming year, George Hefner will be 2025’s vice president. With next year being Hefner’s first year being a part of student government, he is hoping to put his ideas and thinking to good use. Along with the many plans Hefner has for the upcoming year, he is hoping to develop more local restaurant partnerships, aid in fundraising, poll the student body on their opinions more often, and provide the soon-to-be juniors with a great prom. He is hoping that by improving the bond of community and spreading kindness throughout SSHS, the student body will participate in more events. Hefner commented that “kindness really is the key, and that goes for a sense of community as well. The more people who feel like they’re part of a community makes more people support fundraisers and school-backed events.” Hefner is willing to help his class as much as he can and is hoping that his class will not only appreciate his effort but gain his trust, too.
Arissa Gillani was voted for 2026 president last week and is excited and grateful for the opportunities ahead. Arissa was this year’s freshman co-president. “I helped organize the volleyball fundraising event, raised funds for Give a Child a Christmas, and facilitated this year’s freshman powderpuff game. Recently, we advocated for healthier, more nutritious school lunch offerings in our cafeteria at the Food Show. I plan to advance this effort into the upcoming year,” explained Gillani. Gillani has many goals for the 23-24 school year, which include building more community, creating a more enjoyable learning space, and bridging the gap between “social, emotional, and academic learning.” She is hoping to include a dodgeball tournament, bake sale, kid’s night out, food drive, and ice cream social in the 23-24 school year’s agenda. “I value inclusivity and school spirit. I love hearing new ideas from friends and proposing them to the cabinet. I’m a committed student and would like to enforce a positive and collaborative culture” Gillani added. The class of 2026 certainly already has a lot planned for the next year.
As the 22-23 school year ends, our newly elected student government is already working to make next year as great of an experience as they can. Hefner said,” The most important possible thing we can do as office members is to make sure everyone feels like they have a voice, inclusion goes a really long way.”