In preparations for this year’s elections, The Prowler Press spent the last week tracking down candidates for the Franklin High School student council elections. Elections will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23rd. Be sure to listen to announcements and check your e-mails so you don’t miss voting.
Here’s what the candidates had to say to their voters:
Please note: We only have candidates listed that responded to the author’s email. This is not the full ballot. Some candidates were not available for photos or an interview.
Student Body President:
Q: “What campaign are you running on?”
A: Layla Reeves— “I am going to be running on the campaign of inclusivity. I would like to see more activities include our special education students, as well as more inclusivity within our homecoming and FHS courts, and better collaboration between our clubs—like HOSA or Interact. These past four years I’ve heard a lot of, ‘Student Council doesn’t do much’ or ‘ I haven’t heard much about Student Council,’ so I want to change that. I’m also running on the idea that it’s not about popularity it’s about what level of qualifications you have. My goal is to represent everyone, from the artsy/creative students to our student athletes.”
A: Abigail Pope— “One of the platforms that I’m campaigning on is improving the cafeteria situation. I want more microwaves, so I will fundraise for that if possible. I also want to improve the meals. I also am going to advocate for removing the mandatory SCC class attendance in the library so that people can leave during SCC classes. I think there’s a huge separation between students, as well as multiple cliques, and I’m hoping I can work with every group of people and make everything more cohesive and unified.”
A: Elizabeth Cruz-Rios— “My campaign is mostly just about involving students. I also want to give out free food every once in a while, like pick me up snacks because school can get a bit depressing and sometimes you just need a little something.”
Q: “What are your plans to help improve our school?”
A: Reeves— “I am aiming to create a permanent student advisory board, this will allow us to get feedback on what the student council is doing and what other clubs are doing to see what we can improve upon. I would like to improve future Senior Sunrises because coming from a senior I know we’ve had some hardships concerning senior events. It’s been suggested to me that we ask the Foods class to make breakfast for the senior sunrise event and that we also work to include our special education seniors as well. I would also like to start a community FHS Garden in the commons, or somewhere around there. I believe that our school needs to work to provide feminine hygiene in the bathrooms, it’s an issue I’ve heard about since middle school. I also would like to advocate for more men to participate on the student council.”
A: Pope— “I want to add a special needs lunch buddies program so the special needs students will have an opportunity to eat with someone they don’t typically get to. Students will just go during their lunchtime and eat lunch in the special education classroom which will be beneficial in increasing inclusivity. This along with my cafeteria plan and my changes regarding SCC class library attendance are how I want to improve the school.”
A: Cruz-Rios— “I want more student led events such as a pumpkin carving event for Halloween and free candy canes for Christmas. Something else I want to work on is our microwave situation and get another microwave in the cafeteria.”
Q: “What makes you the best option to lead/represent the student body?”
A: Reeves— “I want to make an impact, I’m not doing this to put it on my college resume. Freshman year I was president of the freshman class, sophomore year I was vice president, and this year I’m HOSA president. I have lots of experience with presiding over meetings, listening to my class, sending out google forms and emails, and staying up to date with things. I went to ‘Girls State,’ which included visiting a college for a week and participating in a student-run government from high schools all across NC. I’ve spent time talking as well as listening to peers and campaigning which has only provided me more experience.”
A: Pope— “I’m doing this for the students. I am not doing this for myself. I have a lot on my plate, but I also know how to manage my time. I know how to prioritize things and I haven’t seen much of an impact that student council has made in the past couple years that I’ve been a member. I think I could change that, I would want to make student council more involved. I don’t want people to come up to me and ask what’s student council? ‘Why would I join that? What do they even do?’ I want student council to be an all inclusive group where we work with every club. I’m not doing this for my college resume. I want to create a genuine connection with each student and I know people who want a change and I can make that happen.”
A: Cruz-Rios—“I feel that I’m the best option for this role because I am outgoing and I will hear everyone’s voice and I have tried in the past to get things passed that are suggested to me. I’m sure I can voice everyone’s opinion in a way that will give everyone credit.”
Juniors (Class President Candidates):
Q: “What campaign are you running on?”
A: Valerie Perez— “My campaign is inclusivity and helping everyone get involved with school events.”
A: Rylie Abel— “I’m planning to campaign on students having more of a voice here at Franklin high school. Providing them with the ability to talk to us about what they think would be better for the school too. I want to hear student recommendations on how our school can be better. For example that could mean more events or activities after school or before school— something to just really get the student body engaged or involved.”
A: Emily Lewis— “Whether you are academic, athletic, shy, outgoing, artistic— whatever group you fall into I want you to feel like you have a purpose and a reason to be here and that you are contributing to FHS as much as anybody else.”
A: Sadie Collins— “My platform is I promise that I will always listen to the junior class and try my best to bring whatever ideas you have to life. I want to create more opportunities for student involvement and I want to communicate so that our class always knows what’s going on and can be successful.”
Q: “What are your plans to help improve our school?”
A: Perez— “I want to make school events more enjoyable and I want to get people’s spirit back. I also want to hear from others and hear their opinions on what they want to do to gain back school spirit.”
A: Abel— “I feel like if possible a longer lunch or a little bit longer breaks between classes to provide students with more of a transition time or a period to get settled would be beneficial.”
A: Lewis— “I want to have more events where students can get to know each other. I feel like there are so many students in the school that I do not know that I would personally love to get to know. For example, I’m helping Interact plan the school-wide bonfire next month and I want to make the battle of the classes just as awesome as it was last year. We had our hiccups, but we broke the sophomore curse.”
A: Collins— “Some things I want to do is work on student council itself so that next year it will be more efficiently run in a way similar to a real government. I would like to boost communication throughout the whole school, working in tandem with the journalism club. I also want to create more opportunities for students to get involved in school and make sure they know the opportunities available to them.”
Sophomores (Class President Candidates):
Q: “What campaign are you running on?”
A: Dakota Gregory — “My campaign for the sophomore class would be just to get everyone to vote for me.”
A: Alivia Clouse— “My campaign is for the mental health and well being of the FHS community. Especially as class of 2028 we find ourselves to be the first class that is supposed to graduate from the new high school and with that I think it’s our job especially to leave behind a legacy for all the Panthers that are going to be coming up behind us. We get to set the precedent that we want the new school to be built on and I think with that we need to promote a strong united front that focuses on kindness, positivity, inclusivity and the overall well-being of each student.”
Q: “What are your plans to help improve our school?”
A: Gregory — “How I want to improve the school is just to make sure everyone has a good time at the Dances and stuff and making sure everyone is included.”
A: Clouse— “My plan for improving the school is advocating for another five minutes being added to lunch. When lots of people get food, even with the lunch ladies working as hard as they do, it can still take ten minutes off somebody’s lunch waiting in line. Something else is a positivity wall somewhere in the school to promote inclusion, kindness and the unity of our Franklin panthers. If we know that we are all supporting each other and building each other up despite the cliques and social stigmas we find within a school environment we will ultimately create a more unified FHS community now and for the future.”
Freshmen (Class President Candidates):
Q: “What campaign are you running on?”
A: Brayden Greenwood — “l am campaigning on making my school a better place by building a better nation.”
A: Jaiden Hunter— “My campaign is equality at lunch with all the students where nobody is sitting alone.”
Q: “Did you run for student council at Macon Middle School?”
A: Greenwood — “No, I didn’t run for student council at Macon Middle School.”
A: Hunter—“Yes, I was basically the president because people liked me”
Q: “What encouraged you to pursue this program in high school?”
A: Greenwood — “I am pursuing this program because I wanted to.”
A: Hunter— “I’m pursuing this program to be a leader and to be looked up upon.”