Students Elect New Grade Representatives

 by Sam Levenson, SSLI '27

Yesterday, high school students elected new grade representatives for the rest of the year. The student government is now set, and they are ready to represent the student body and plan an exciting year. 

This election only had a limited number of spots open. The freshmen had already elected Gideon Levenson and Eric Wurtzel at the end of their eighth grade year to serve as their representatives through their freshman year, so they did not participate in yesterday’s elections. The sophomores had both of their spots available for grade representatives. The juniors had one spot open after Sam Levenson was elected to executive student government, and Sara Rosenthal was elected to fill his spot as the grade representative through the end of this year. The seniors similarly had one spot open. Emma Roth was elected last spring after one grade representative was elected to executive government. Yesterday, the other grade representative spot for the seniors became available. 

While the freshmen enjoyed the rollercoaster of everyone else’s elections, all of the other grades elected their representatives. 

Senior Mia B. delivers her speech. (SSLI Instagram)

In their competitive election, sophomores Elan Golan and Jake Siegel beat two other candidates. Golan noted, “I felt like my speech could have been better, but overall it worked out because I still got the win.” Siegel added, “I practiced my speech a bit at home so I could get more familiar with it, and it paid off since I didn’t have to stare down at my speech the entire time during elections.” While seemingly different in their preparations, Golan and Siegel won the election and will serve the sophomores for the year.

Moving on to the junior election, Brielle Melzer will join Sara Rosenthal as the eleventh grade representatives. The juniors’ election was much less competitive compared to the sophomores', as Melzer ran unopposed, but it is equally important for the whole of the student government. Melzer remarked about her speech, “I feel my speech was simple and effective and was received well by the grade.” 

The seniors elected Mia Bachrach to be their grade representative. She defeated two other opponents in the race for the position. 

These students took on the challenging role of becoming a grade representative. To qualify for the election, students must acquire a number of recommendation letters from teachers, write a meaningful letter of intent, and fulfill other requirements. It is not an easy task, but students who seek to serve their classmates and become a member of the student government are able to commit to it. Melzer said that she “wanted to run for grade rep to fix the issues [she] saw previously, and [to] support our grade further.” Golan added that he wanted to help create fun activities for his peers, saying, “I wanted to run for this position because we need activities that would get people to participate.” Siegel commented on his motivation adding, "The reason I wanted to run was because I think I could do a good job... planning events that people will have fun doing."

As they begin their terms and look forward to the year, the representatives are excited and have already begun planning and preparing for upcoming events. They are most excited to lead their grades in Battle of the Classes, prepare the Shabbaton for their grade, and create an enjoyable environment and experience for their peers. 

Sam Levenson is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since October 2023. Sam is currently a junior at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: slevenson27@schechterli.org