As the election season is coming to a close, the YPA (Youth Policy Assembly) interviewed even more of our potential candidates for STUCO (Student Council). Among these were three titans of the polls, Maeda, Avni and Rehan, all of whom were running for different positions – 11th Grade Representative, President and Vice, respectively. In this interview, (once again) these three spoke on the key ideals surrounding their candidacy as well as what they thought about the current state of the election and our school.
Starting off, we have Avni Chidella, running in a head-to-head race vs. the fierce Yuvan Senthil. She believes the school should do more work for us, the developing students, than we do for it, and that while it should be a 2-way street, the admin should definitely have less say in how things go down than the students who go down with them. She wants to organize things in a way that actually helps students, actually absorbing and comprehending what they say instead of filing it away into another filing cabinet somewhere. When asked how she would get grade checks to work, she mentioned that the idea was originally a hallmark of her campaign, specifically the use of “Powerschool,” and that it was so well liked that she managed to get admin on board a month before the election in addition to spreading this idea to other candidates’ campaigns. BASIS Corporate, and to that extent, all BASIS Schools, have always held “Student Accountability” as a key point of their academic track, especially for highschoolers, revolving around the idea that a student should be responsible for improving their grades, rather than a parent seeing the student’s grades and forcing them to be responsible. Due to the nature of this “key point,” Avni feels that Powerschool would fit in perfectly with the BASIS Academic track, as it would allow students to have a constant omniscient knowledge of their status throughout the school year. This would thus allow them to take further responsibility, as there would be less “Jumpscares” so-to-speak, as rapid/massive grade dips would be more easily avoided, on account of the fact that bad grades would have less time to accumulate and form such a dip. In addition to Powerschool and in accordance with the idea of “Student Accountability,” Avni would strive to keep any and all Powerschool notifications limited to the high schoolers, not advertising it anywhere on ParentSquare and only messaging through “.basised” emails. Avni goes further, mentioning how she thinks STUCO too will be extremely effective and well received, just like Powerschool, seeing as how on board with it the new leaders of BASIS Corporate are. As long as persistent and feasible plans are introduced, they can be completed successfully, evidenced by just how on board even local admin has been, helping Avni to get Field Trips instituted into the calendar, even before she was placed into office. However, as she wisely points out, with the rise of STUCO, Admin will have less of a choice in whether or not they listen to the students. Whereas before our only real link between Student Affairs and Admin Action was Mr.Poggi, now, with an officially formed, organized, and well-led group of students, change is inevitable, and Admin simply must listen to at least some of the things we have to say. When asked about the feasibility of a school library, Avni had plenty of ideas as to where one could possibly be located, posing the idea of sharing a library with a Peer Tutoring Room, which already has plenty of space, is already manned constantly, and already has the kind of zen and peaceful environment a library needs. When further questioned about how she would expect STUCO to grow and what it would come to achieve in the following years, she was confident that it would become a permanent installment to our school, saying that “Once we lay down a precedent of how much power STUCO can have […] it really will be the place where people can go to voice any of their concerns – at all.” Avni differentiates herself from other candidates in that she doesn’t see STUCO as just another club. Sure, she, like every other candidate for every other role, believes that there are problems that need to be addressed and issues which must be rectified – but she doesn’t believe that can be done by some ragtag team of crowd favorites. She believes in doing what she does to establish STUCO as a sort of “Branch of government” running in tandem with BASIS Admin instead of trying to beg for their scraps of power. Avni wants to see bonafide, permanent and continuous change, never stopping, always improving. If you wish for a presidential elect built not off of character or flashy advertising, but off of a true passion and a hopeful vision for the future, then Avni’s your gal.
Next up, the ever-flashy and consistently brand-building savant himself, Rehan. Rehan believes the core of all issues to lie in a massive disconnect between the Admin and student bodies, with no real way for student voices to be heard. With him in office, persistent issues would be resolved and quieted voices would be heard. When asked how he would get grade checks to work, Rehan mentioned that his biggest fear is as to whether or not everyone is on the same page with this newly implemented policy of grade checks. He would like first to gauge the entire school’s reaction to the policy, making sure his actions as Vice President come by the will of the people and not his own, a theme persistent throughout his whole candidacy. He strongly urges outreach not just among him and his peers, but to all other possible office elects, stressing that this is the only way their positions stand for much, if anything at all – things should be a win-win situation for all if possible. When further questioned, now on the possibility and logistics of a school library, Rehan was less adamant about the idea than other candidates, protesting that, while it was a good idea on paper, it just wouldn’t work out on a small scale, and even less so on the large scale other candidates so adamantly claimed they could achieve. Much time and effort would need to go into the project, and the saving grace for any iteration of it would be the schools numerous rooms with agreeable teachers, who would be willing to have sorts of mini-libraries with built in shelving for corners of their rooms. Even so, this idea would decentralize the library, leaving it up to each teacher, and thus hindering the abilities of students to get access to books. In Rehan’s opinion, a much more probable kind of library would be a digital one, which would be shared by the entire BASIS school system, and accessible by any student within a BASIS school. This would eliminate most of the cost and all of the space requirements needed for a functioning library and spread the idea to help not just our school, but others across the globe. Finally, when asked about the trademark of his campaign, Rehan finally expanded on the purpose behind his merchandise – such as lip balm and face masks – beyond advertising. To Rehan, he is a socially trapped politician. He has plenty of friends, sure, but they are all part of the same group or groups, and all contained within 11th grade. With his merch line and subsequent marketing ploys, such as his fully functioning (and quite fun) website, Rehan was hoping to “fill in” this fault of his by advertising to such a degree that anyone who saw his marketing would remember his name. Even if its perceived as flamboyant, extraneous or extravagant “desperate attempt” to garner votes, the long-lasting impact it left on those who witnessed it far outweighed possible judgment or ridicule in Rehan’s eyes, perfectly highlighting Rehan’s best feature(s) as a candidate – he recognizes the flaws he has, tries to make up for them, and makes the tough decisions when he needs to. If no candidate realized fault, STUCO would be lost in the first month of office, as everyone would be too bullheaded and blinded by their beliefs that they wouldn’t be able to take a step back and see other ideas. Rehan not only realizes and openly admits one of his main faults, but goes one step further, actually trying to fix it. If no one in office were to actually try to fix the faults within themselves, the situation would yield the exact same result, albeit with some more self-actualized people coming out of it. On top of that, this split-second pro-con decision making of his is crucial to a position like his, yielding him the swiftness and decisiveness required to stop issues in their tracks before they can go on to affect and hurt more people. If you’re looking for a candidate that will hold nothing about themselves back and will go on to better themselves as they better the environment around them, all while doing it in a super sweet suave style, then Rehan is the obvious choice.
Last of the notable candidates is Maeda Watt, running for 11th Grade Representative as she believes that not only are there not enough changes being implemented, but that the ones that are being made represent the needs of only a few select students, causing other students discomfort and unhappiness. She remarks that there has never been a proper place for students to air their concerns, and she hopes that her candidacy can provide that place in the school, and thus shorten the gap between what students want and what they receive. When asked how she would get grade checks to function within the school, she shared a similar viewpoint to Rehan, mentioning that she wanted to gauge the entire school’s reaction first before forming a solid and concrete plan by which to tackle such a massive hurdle. However, she is much firmer on her opinions about how effective STUCO will be overall, stating that Ms.Rankin and others have already been great helps in starting up the Council, and given the recent change in leadership of BASIS overall, new directives/policies from corporate will likely be much more lenient in their dispersal of power to the student body, meaning candidates can make more than empty promises when running for office. When asked the “Library Question,” Maeda opted for the “little is better than none” route, particularly liking the idea of “Cart Libraries” as teachers of the lower school typically maintain, and thought that if books could be distributed evenly throughout teacher carts, perhaps with a center at the front office, it could open up access to books to much more of the school, and quench any issues of inaccessibility to reading. Finally, as 11th grade rep, and thus next year’s senior representative, part of Maeda’s job would be to plan out the senior trip. Her main focus/struggle with the trip would be price points, as she feels that has always been the biggest complaint and issue arising from the event. In terms of location and duration, she feels a week is reasonable as a sweet spot in between too long a trip and too short, and she feels that while she hopes to bring the grade somewhere fun, it must be done sensibly and with consent of admin, which she will be able to ascertain through her close connections with and in the admin of the school. If you want a reliable, sensible and cautious individual to represent you and your interests, Maeda brings a unique blend of wariness and wit to the table that will be sure to keep the mental and physical interests of students in mind without jeopardizing anyone’s views.
Overall, this election is looking like a promising one. There have been ups, there have been downs, and while a lot of the lower school posters drag down the event as a whole (Looking at you, “I’m crazy for 6th grade!”), this has been an amazing introduction to what I’m sure will be a long lasting Council at our school for years to come – may its impact be immeasurable and its members well-minded.
