The SHS Student Government Elections are over, and we have the winners. This year will present new challenges that make our elected student officials even more vital to our school community. In the absence of the annual schoolwide speech assembly, Maroon interviewed all the elected officials to provide perspectives on how they plan to create change in our school.

President: Claire Scarcella

“I’ve always loved being super involved, being able to make [a] change, and giving my fellow students a voice. My goal would be to bring as much normalcy as possible into this year. The SHS traditions should still happen, even with modifications… Something like prom or junior olympics can happen…,[if we plan differently]. Also, I want to do new charities. I know there was a huge thing about equality and race this summer, and doing something that people can relate to emotionally can be a super good thing to unite the class. I love being in government. It’s almost like a sport for me. It’s one of my main passions, so whatever I do, I’ll put as much effort as I can into it.”

Vice President: Rishika Bansal

“I’ve been in student government for pretty much as long as I can remember, since 4th grade. I think I like being able to change the school community and making it better. I never really thought student government had the power to do that, but especially this past year…, being on the restart committee [and] making school policy and the restart plan has been pretty amazing. The stuff we change… does get implemented. It’s not just spirit days and pep rallies. One of my goals is regulations on cross cohorting. I think double periods especially should never [force students to cross-cohort]. When we return to school, I also want to create a space where… kids can eat and do work. Because, in previous years, the library didn’t allow food. A lot of kids go there during lunch to do work and have access to printers and the resources the library has. I want to use either the mezzanine level of the Learning Commons or the iLab and put computers in there to let kids eat and do work at the same time.” 

Secretary: Matthew Bartoz 

“I’ve been involved in school government since 7th grade when I ran for SO rep. Student government is important to me, and [they make changes in the school, so I wanted to] talk to the administrators about how the school is run to make positive change. When we go back to school, I’m hoping to restart things that the school government has been known for in the past like the carnival and the pep rallies. I’m excited to get students more spirited about Scarsdale. The virus has forced us to get more creative with things, and it’s been harder to get the student body interested, but I have high hopes for the upcoming year.”

Secretary: Aaron Klein

“Actually, [2021] is my first year in student government. I ran for Club Secretary, and I think clubs are a place where students can express themselves and really develop their interests and show they are passionate about something. We have a lot of clubs that do… well, but I think we sometimes ignore the clubs with less participation. I think especially those clubs if you are really into that [topic] using the school facilities and resources to help you explore your interests is something really great and that is what I wanted to do by running. In terms of goals for me, I felt, at the beginning of the year, [that] I didn’t really have a voice in terms of how the school was being run… so I hope to meet with some people in the administration, other student leaders and get more student input. Ultimately, I… want to help people start clubs that they are passionate about.”

Treasurer: Justine Karp

“I’ve been in government since eighth grade, and I’ve been a House rep for the past three years. I… love planning and executing events for the school, and I like the community that [the] school government forms. I hope that this year, I can get involved in planning some events that aren’t all virtual. In-person events like fundraisers seem like the most effective and fun for the school. I really want to do the High School Carnival sometime, even though I don’t think it’s going to happen this year. I want to find a way to do the normal events, but in a corona-safe way. International Food Day was always my favorite day of the year, and they’re doing International Day, but I hope we can do the regular Food Day later in this year if the pandemic dies down.”