Due to the Coronavirus, the SGA and Class officer elections have been delayed for about a month. Leadership teacher Melanie Schwed and all of the candidates agreed on a date during a Zoom meeting this past Monday. Voting will take place on Monday May 4. The ballot will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. This year voting will take place online. WJ will send out a Google Form with the videos and list of candidates through myMCPS Classroom and social studies teachers. The videos for each candidate will be above the section where you select a candidate. (Remember to vote for your own grade!)

The last few years, the SGA and class officer elections have taken place in the beginning of June after the seniors left.

“We moved the elections up this year and moved the Leadership class selection back so that they align to be announced the same week. The final Leadership class (with the 8 elected SGA/Class officers) will be announced before Spring Break. The reasoning behind this was to avoid dragging out finalizing the Leadership class and leaving students unsure about their status until June,” Schwed said.

The announcement of the Leadership class has also been on hold due to the Coronavirus, but will be announced around the same time as the new SGA and Class officers.

Senior Sarah O’Donnell was one of three seniors to be accepted into the Leadership class of 2020 after the SGA and class officer elections were held in June.

“I think it will be better because the final class for Leadership will be made at once rather than people getting in months later. It was stressful just because [I] was worried about winning the election and then having to know if you got in,” O’Donnell said.

Now all of the juniors don’t need to stress out about winning their election so they can be assured a spot in Leadership.

All the candidates have ideas on how they want to improve WJ and their grade. (Not all of the candidates were interviewed).

If SGA Treasurer candidate junior Timmy Heim wins, he plans to create a welcoming environment for students and have inclusive pep rallies.

“I’m running for SGA because I really want to make this school a better place and I want everyone to feel welcomed here and I want everyone to feel like they belong in this school. My top priority would be to make fun pep rallies that feel inclusive to everyone,” Heim said.

SGA Vice President candidate, junior Nicole Caceres has an idea that would make homeroom more beneficial for students.

“I really strongly believe in adding home and life skill classes [during homeroom] because there are so many students that I know that don’t know how to do their taxes or they are worried about how to be independent in their future after graduation,” Caceres said.

Senior class Treasurer candidate, junior Tessa Nellis is running for office because she wants to be involved in the planning activities that will have an impact on WJ for years to come.

“I want to be involved in what goes on during my senior year and I want to make next year one of the best years. I’ve noticed that in the past [during my brother’s senior year], a lot of the events we use for Pennies for Patients today they invented like Pong… and I want my senior class to have that kind of lasting impact on WJ,” Nellis said.

Junior class presidential candidate, sophomore JP Rakis shared his plan for the Class of 2022.

“I want to help make our junior year fun…I want to have a really spirited year and [decrease] the stress because I know junior year can be really hard…I think we can make it a lot less stressful than it has to be,” Rakis said.

Sophomore class Vice presidential candidate, freshman Sienna Karp’s goal for next year is to improve the spirit among the Class of 2023.

“Since I ran this past year as a freshman, I’ve noticed that my grade doesn’t have a lot of spirit. We are not known for going to events and stuff. Probably my main priority is just to have more spirit and try to get people to enjoy what we are doing,” Karp said.