Student Council’s Next Chapter
Photo Credit: Izzy Jang
(Disclosure: Since being assigned and writing this article, Emre Kilicarslan was elected grade 12 representative for the 2024-25 Student Council)
Beginning in early April, Eric Hamber students began their campaigns for Hamber’s 2024–2025 student council (StuCo). Voting occurred on Apr. 23, and results were announced on Apr. 25.
Daniel Choi (11) and Arabella Mew (11) will be next year’s Co-Presidents. Their goal, according to Choi, is to “get more students to know what we do in Student Council and get more students to participate in the events, like school dances and spirit days.” He added that he hopes to bring back events held at Hamber prior to the pandemic such as Pie Day.
“I really enjoyed the responsibilities that came with the position like amplifying student voice on a district-wide level and planning events,” said Mew, speaking of her prior experience as VDSC Representative and Vice President. “But [I] was interested in taking on a greater leadership role within the council.”
Choi and Mew will be working with elected Vice President Mackenzie Chung (11), who has multiple years of experience within Hamber’s StuCo as well as with the Vancouver District Student Council (VDSC).
StuCo’s elected Secretary, Social Events Coordinator, and Director of Communications are Chloe Young (11), Shayan Sabet (11), and Tony Chow (10), respectively.
“I will be working with others from StuCo and create financial statements so the planning events are efficient,” said Cedric Lai (10), who was elected for the position of Treasurer.
Gavin Chan (11), Adrian Lai (11), Olivia Lindsay (11), Kaelyn Mak (11), and Paul Zhou (11) are the class of 2025’s elected Grad Committee members, with Justin Chuk (11) leading the committee as Grad Chair. These students will take on a planning and leadership role for grads by organizing events including Prom and the graduation ceremony itself.
In an unseen turn of events, two candidates in the running for Grade 10 Representative tied in votes. Candidates Lydia Choi (9), Yuree Na (9), and Elijah Abaya (9) were all elected after careful consideration by StuCo’s sponsors and consultation from other staff members.
“We — I'm not joking — not just double and triple checked. We probably counted those ballots ten times because it never happened [before],” said Ms. G. Lau (LLC), one of StuCo’s sponsors. “We want to have the voices of the students represented in the votes, and that is why we said [...] we'll just create one extra spot.”
Ms. Lau added that with the new school building, there will likely be “a lot more interaction between the student body and the Student Council with ideas and suggestions of things they want to see.” StuCo members will find themselves tasked with reimagining the designs and concepts for each school event. This means that familiar traditions, such as the Haunted House, will require fresh ideas in order to adapt to the layout of the new building.