As we embark on a new school year, we take time to examine the road that lies ahead. The SGA plays a key role in helping to plan and implement school functions, along with navigating both the physical and social layout of WJ. This year, we had the opportunity to sit down with members of the SGA, and discuss their plans for the upcoming school year. We spoke to SGA President Amir Kalantary, , senior class president Jake Steinberg, , junior class president Rozhina Amini, and sophomore class president Ava Solomon. We discussed plans for getting for more students involved, which qualities make a good leader and what they’re most excited for this upcoming school year.

What are your plans for the upcoming school year?
Amir: “Build up school spirit and make everyone proud to be a Wildcat or madcow.”
Jake: “Improve communication, especially leadership with the large amount of people in the class which makes things hectic. Also good homecoming hallways and planning fundraisers to help us raise money to have a successful year.”
Rozhina: “Fundraising for senior year because it gets super tough with all you have to do and events, and what’s expected of you. Junior year we fundraise in order to provide to seniors next year.”
Ava: “Our class gets brought together more, especially since our freshman year we weren’t able to do a lot of events. I think this year, since we know the school and stuff, we are planning to have our own events.”

How are you going to get more students involved in our school community?
Amir: “Boosting advertisement in leadership this year, and try to get the word out more about events. Also having them at more accessible times for people, so everyone can come.”
Jake: “Posting on social media, trying to hype up everything and having more announcements on the morning announcements. Try to get the word out about things and to be as inclusive as possible.”
Rozhina: “Spirit, and do spirits that people would really easily be able to do, without going out and buying new things.”
Ava: “Use social media, since I know a majority of our grade is on social media. Getting them to follow us!”

What is one good quality that you think all good leaders should have?
Amir: “Ability to listen is a very important leadership quality. The ability to take in multiple opinions and a lot of people with different viewpoints together to solve one common goal.”
Jake: “Take lead and hold themselves accountable and be able to direct people, along with take ownership for their responsibilities.”
Rozhina: “Organization, when everything is chaotic and people rush to get things done. So with organization is is much easier to get your thoughts and ideas and what you want to do done.”
Ava: “Ability to talk to people, it is difficult to be a leader if you aren’t able to express who you are and how you want other people to see you. Cause if they do not know you, why should you lead them.”

Many leaders leave behind a legacy, what do you want yours to be?
Amir: “After I leave, I hope future classes will have a ton of spirit and they will remember it was this year that we became one of the most spirited schools in the county.”
Jake: “That guy was the good president. He ran things well, took ownership and made senior year fun.”
Rozhina: “Good person to my class, and get people excited about what WJ has to offer. I want people to get involved and have fun, and don’t take things for granted.”
Ava: “Remember our class as a whole because we do so many school events, together as a school. In the end, our class is will get to bond with each other and stick together all the way through.”

What is one thing you learned about yourself from being in student government?
Amir: “My experience in sophomore class and junior class helped me to lead in SGA. Sophomore year, I didn’t know what was going on and I followed the lead of other officers. Junior year helped me to lead a group of people. It was rocky, but I learned a lot from those experiments.”
Jake: “Don’t be afraid to take risks, I was never really afraid but you learn a lot about yourself by having people look up to you to accomplish certain things. I am capable of doing a lot that I didn’t think I was able to do.”
Rozhina: “People will expect things from you that you can’t accomplish, but you can try and aim for.”
Ava: “How to work with other people, because student government is not a one-person job. You need to communicate and keep an open mind because everyone’s ideas are important.”

Why did you want to be involved in student government?
Amir: “I wanted to help the school really. I bring a lot of good ideas to the table and I am a good person to aggregate everyone else’s ideas.”
Jake: “To help improve my class, and I wanted my opinion and voice to be heard. Having direct involvement in leadership and what occurs around the school with the senior class, it’s good knowing my input makes a difference.”
Rozhina: “I really like doing organizational things, and I feel like I can do them to my full abilities. I am creative, so I felt I had ideas that I really wanted to be done and the best way to get them done is to get them involved.”
Ava: “Everyone will have a voice. I believe I can take a wide variety of opinions of what people want and turn them into something that everyone will like.”

Are there any events in the upcoming school year that you are excited about?
Amir: “Homecoming for sure is going to be amazing, and pep rallies will include a lot of fun stuff, so lots to look forward too.”
Jake: “Homecoming, prom and graduation!”
Rozhina: “Homecoming because once you get to upper class years, it becomes more of a bigger thing. Pennies for Patience is always a fun event.
Ava: “Glo, I am a DJ myself so I am really hoping I get to do that this year.”

Any final thoughts?
Amir: “Spirit doesn’t just happen on it’s own. We all got to get involved, cheer on our teams and love school because it doesn’t just come from me, it comes from you guys.”
Jake: “Have faith in us, some people might disagree with our decisions but remember you guys elected us. I am not trying to be an authoritative person, but trust our decisions and trust what we are doing because if we all work together, we will have a good result out of whatever we are doing.”
Rozhina: “Students should always feel that recently more than ever, people come up to me with ideas about what they want. I feel like people should feel open to me, because I want you to tell me what they want. It is great to know what people want to do and things they want to see.”
Ava: “Last year was our freshman year, we are getting started. This year expect a lot more.”