This year’s Student Council elections took an unexpected turn when Sofia Cascone and Jake Dembowski decided to run for president. Why was this unexpected? Cascone and Dembowski are juniors. Traditionally, the Student Council President is a senior class member, and the Vice President is a junior. However, these two students flipped the script when they got on the ballot for president.
In the history of Middletown High School South, there has never been a junior president. The decision to allow Cascone and Dembowski to run was a controversial one. Some argued that they should wait until next year, when they are seniors, to run for president. Others argued that since no rule specifically stated that the president had to be a senior, they had every right to run. The Student Council advisor, Mrs. Carey, decided that Cascone and Dembowski were allowed to be candidates.
When the election came, members of the club voted for who they wanted for each cabinet position. In the end, Cascone received the most votes and Dembowski got the second most. The two decided to become co-presidents.
The Council is still facing backlash for electing two juniors. One of the jobs of the president is to make a speech at the graduation ceremony in the spring. The opposition finds it problematic that someone who is not a member of the graduating class will speak at graduation. One South senior says, “Graduation is a milestone event that shows the culmination of years of hard work and growth. It seems more fitting for a senior…to deliver a meaningful speech that reflects on their time in high school.”
On the other hand, the Student Council was aware of this fact and elected Cascone and Dembowski because they believed that they were the best candidates to represent South students and act as a liaison between the student body and the administration. One member of the Student Council says they voted for Cascone because, “She has experience with being a president in other clubs, and leadership roles outside of school.” As for the co-presidents’ age, this member says, “I think that is not bad at all. The older candidates are not always the best or most experienced.”
This historical election has proven that the electoral process is at work in Middletown South and will be remembered as a significant turn of events for years to come. It also opens the door for juniors to run for president in the future. It may even encourage more underclassmen to take on leadership roles before their senior years.