The Student Council elected four members to represent Grade 12 instead of the traditional three.
In past years, the Grade 12 class elected five representatives, including two presidents who had been selected the previous academic year. However, this year, six members of the Grade 12 class — Dasha Rahman (’25), Diya Bambawale (’25), Trevon Ashton (’25) and Shelbe Yousey (’25), in addition to President Gus Bhatia (’25) and Vice President Jaden Gardiola (’25) — will serve on the council due to a complication with the nominees’ applications.
Student Council Advisor Tony Bracht said the change occurred because only one candidate’s nomination form was submitted by the deadline, with the remaining three submitting at a later date.
“We had three people who were interested but no new people were applying, and then I got an email from an additional person who was interested,” Bracht said. “We had this dilemma where we had four people running, three of which hadn’t turned in their applications, and only three positions available.”
Bracht said in order to ensure an equal distribution of power within the council, the six Grade 12 representatives will only have five votes — the same number as the other grades.
“If all six seniors are ever at a meeting, then the five people who have had the best Student Council meeting attendance will get the five votes,” Bracht said. “The senior class is not suddenly going to have more power than the other grades.”
Bhatia said he hopes the additional Grade 12 voices will help guide the council to make more thought-out decisions.
“We hope that the maturity of seniors will help prevent the rest of the council from making any rash decisions or decisions that wouldn’t have the best impact on the High School,” Bhatia said. “It’s good to have more people with more experience.”
Rahman said Grade 12 representatives of the council add valuable insight and guidance to the younger grades.
“As a senior, you’re in a little bit of a driving seat at the High School, so having an extra person on the council to guide the years below is never a bad thing,” Rahman said. “All of us have had at least a year or more of experience on the council, so I really just see it as an extra person who can give advice to the younger years.”
Similarly, Bracht said Grade 12 contribution is especially valuable to the productivity of the council.
“We rely on the seniors’ leadership and the personal power to actually organize events and have meetings with that student voice,” Bracht said.
Bhatia said he hopes having an additional Grade 12 member on the council will increase engagement.
“It’s a win-win because, in the past, the Student Council has struggled with senior attendance, especially in the second semester after college applications,” Bhatia said. “We’re hoping that having a member more than usual is going to help improve senior consistency. If one isn’t there, we still have a full senior council.”
Bracht said the current Grade 12 representatives are highly engaged and collaborative — a reason he agreed to accept all four candidates into the council.
“They all work together so well, and I didn’t want to take away that energy,” Bracht said. “If anything, I wanted to harness that energy and use it to try to rebuild the senior leadership on the student council. If all six seniors are at a meeting when we are voting, that is a good problem I’m willing to deal with because that is great that there’s that level of interest and ownership in the senior class.”
Bhatia said the council will be observing the impacts of having an extra Grade 12 member this year to determine future changes.
“Maybe this will be something that really works for us, and having those senior insights will be really beneficial to the council,” Bhatia said. “Or, maybe, if there are some issues with attendance, this is something that we won’t repeat again on the council.”
Rahman said although some may question the decision, having a council of six Grade 12 students shows strong interest and passion.
“Some people may perceive it as just letting an extra person on, and they might not see it as having a lot of consideration behind it,” Rahman said. “But, having an extra person and having six full council members that are seniors who are actually wanting to come is such a good problem to have.”
Bhatia said he believes in the capabilities of all the Grade 12 members and is looking forward to collaborating with them on the council.
“All four of our current members are very qualified, and we’re really excited to work with them on the Student Council and do what we can for the High School,” Bhatia said.
Sophia Hsu contributed to reporting.
