By Finn Collom
My name is Finn Collom, I’m a senior in the Academic Choice learning community, and I’m the Associated Student Body President here at Berkeley High. I’ve been a part of BHS Leadership now for nearly four hectic, amazing years. I’ve held positions on class and executive teams, commissioned projects with students and administration alike, and I hope to leave behind a Leadership team that continues to pursue ways to make our school better. We have a lot left in front of us to address as a school, and what I hope to make clear is that Leadership isn’t some nebulous body of officials making important decisions above the larger student body, but rather a conglomeration of students organizing within the student body.
One thing that confuses this distinction, especially during elections, is the sheer number of positions students can run and apply for to participate on Leadership. We’re not just a collective of class presidents: we have a School Board Representative, a Chief of Service, Deputies, Vice Presidents, SSC and BSEP Representatives, etc. How does this all come together?
Here at Berkeley High, our student body government can be broken into a couple parts: the Class Teams, made up of a Class President, VP, and deputies, who all focus on issues/events that affect the individual classes, like prom for juniors and seniors; the Executive Team, made up of an ASB Prez and VP, all the Class Presidents, the School Board Representative, and Student Commissioners/Chiefs (i.e. the Chief of Service, or Commissioner of Elections,) who focus on ‘school-and-beyond’ issues/events, like organizing the Holiday Meal or addressing inequality in SLCs; and the Student Senate, which consists of SSC and BSEP representatives, as well as representatives from the small learning communities, who assist the Executive and Class Teams in implementation of ideas and events, big and small.
All of this can get a little confusing, especially when you’re asked to vote for a near-whole set of these positions every year. My advice is to seek out these candidates, ask them questions about their big and not-so-big ideas for the school, and inform yourself about the choices you have to make. Finally, enjoy participating in one of the world’s most noble experiments: active, participant-led democracy. Go Jackets! ~