[Update: voting is now closed]

It’s election day! To vote in the ASB election click here. (Note: to vote you must be a student at Inglemoor who is logged into a school email account. You may not be a senior. Voting must be completed by the end of sixth period on Tuesday March 20)

It’s a busy time of the year for everyone — staff, students, and counselors — as we approach the end of the year. In the midst of all this chaos, ASB elections for the 2018-2019 school year are on March 20. At this time, the student body votes on the future President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Clubs/Fundraising Commissioner.

Before anyone can run for a position, ASB adviser Elizabeth Kowalski has delegated specific tasks and requirements that each candidate must complete.

“Especially for our president and our vice president, we are looking for somebody who has held a leadership position within the school,” Kowalski said.

The whole application process allows Kowalski, current ASB President Alex Zhou and Vice President Maddie Smith to evaluate the qualitative characteristics of each candidate and see if and how they fit the responsibilities of their respective roles.

“We are looking for somebody who can have opinions but [can] listen to other people’s opinions and make informed judgements, based on all of the pieces,” Kowalski said. “[We’re] really trying to seek out that student voice.”

For the voting process, candidates can spend up to $25 for their campaign from the day they turned in the application, Feb. 27, to voting day, March 20. Then on that day, the student body watches a promotional video on GMI and votes for their favorite.

Although the Secretary (Maya Oleynikova), Treasurer (Nathan Loutis) and Clubs/Fundraising Commissioner (Hunter Essex) roles are unopposed, the candidates still meet the strict guidelines required to be an officer.

Running for the most competitive position, presidential candidates, junior Katie Anderson and junior Anisha Chowdhry, said they both think that the gap between the IB program, the AP program, general education and the ASB events. They want to find a way to fill that gap.

“I really want to [initiate] and start that community base here,” Anderson said.

Individually, though, they have different plans and goals to achieve the overarching mission for the upcoming year.

“I feel like the first step is going to be communication, because there are a bunch of events that we host that get very little participation. So I think starting to incorporate social media into that [is important]; we have an Instagram account for ASB but it hasn’t really been managed for the past two years,” Anderson said. “I feel like that is a great platform to start on.”

Making school life more connected with students’ social lives, Anderson said, is one of her priorities along with building a stronger community.

“I really want to start to create a positive environment where students genuinely want to come to school and genuinely want to interact with each other,” Anderson said.

Additionally, Chowdhry said that she is planning on taking ideas from the past and adjusting them to get more student involvement at ASB events. She wants to allow more student voice to make decisions.

“The biggest thing that I’m going to do differently is that I’m going to really get to know our student body. That’s my plan. Because if I’m going to be representing our student body, I’m going to the district and having meetings about our student body,” Chowdhry said, “I need to know who our student body is. That’s why, every single morning, I’m outside and I’m greeting students.”

In addition to the holistic approach of strengthening the community, these two candidates also hope to hone in on personal and professional skills that will help them in the future.

“Through this leadership position, I will really be able to get a good grasp on taking a lot of people’s ideas and combining them to get the best solution, both efficiently and overall,” Chowdhry said.

Anderson said she really wants to develop her leadership skills and generally get more leadership experience to help her through college and beyond.

“If I do become president, I will definitely learn a lot about working with others and how to communicate with adults,” Anderson said. “Not only will I learn a lot about the logistical running of stuff, but I feel like this leadership platform will carry on and inspire me to do more.”

Videos courtesy of Anisha Chowhdry and Katie Anderson.