On October 22nd, Mount Greylock high school students finished submitting their ballots to determine their representatives for their class officers, and student and school councils. This year, the elections were, like many school events, taken onto a virtual platform. 

Candidates were asked to complete an electronic signature sheet. Class officers and Student Council candidates were required to get twenty-five signatures within their grade, while School Council candidates were able to get signatures from all grades. 

Afterwards, candidates were required to submit a minute and a half to two minute long video. These videos were then uploaded to a google form where each grade voted from the twentieth to the twenty-second. Participants were also  allowed to submit an electronic promotional campaign poster if they wanted. 

The four elected Class Officers have the responsibility of organizing class meetings and fundraisers. The five members of the Student Council, under advisor Mary MacDonald, meet every Tuesday and work with the administration to represent the interests of their respective grades. 

School Council student representatives meet with parents, members of the community, and administrators to review the school’s budget, educational goals, and improvement plan. School Council representatives serve two-year terms, so there were two available seats this election. 

Many incumbents remained in their positions. Alex Wilson, senior class president,  Kate Swann, junior vice president, and Charlie McWeeny, School Council representative, are just a few that won reelection. 

The new freshman class officers include Vincent Welch as President , Phoebe Barnes as Vice president, Grace Winters as Treasurer, and Ava Anagnos as Secretary. Student council representatives for the freshmen include Mirabel Boyer, Caleb Low, Lucy McWeeny, and Celina Savage. 

Class officers for the sophomore class include Maggie Brody as President, Eamon Heatherington as Vice President, Effie Skinner as Treasurer, and Emma Gray as Secretary. Annie Art, Matteo Chang, Elena Caplinger, Alton Mcintosh, and Molly Sullivan won election for the grade’s Student Council representatives. 

For the junior class, Henry Art and Kate Swann won reelection for the presidency and vice presidency, respectively. Anthony Welch won election for treasurer, and Emma Sandstrom won the Secretary candidacy. Jack Catelotti, Luca Hirsch, Livia Morales, Josie Smith, and Christian Sullivan won the Student Council elections. 

As for the senior class, Alex Wilson won reelection for class president. Will Starenko won the vice president candidacy. Leo Rossiter won the treasurer, and Ruth Weaver won the secretary position. Michael Faulkner, Carolyn Jones, Charlie McWeeny, John Skavlem, and Jackie Wells won the grades Student Council representative positions. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has markedly altered the manner in which the student body chooses their representatives. It has also had an effect on voter participation.

“Voter turnout was not on par with participation in the past,” explained Mary MacDonald, advisor to the Student Council and one of the facilitators of the election. MacDonald believes this is because “students had to make a conscious choice to open their email, watch the speeches and to vote.” 

In comparison to last year, MacDonald remarked that the “approach was never going to have the [same] traction as paper posters on bulletin boards or the TVs in the hallways and main entrance.”

According to statistics provided by MacDonald, roughly 62% of seniors, 45.2% of juniors, 74.2% of sophomores, and 47% of freshmen voted in the elections. Many races on the ballot were uncontested, and MacDonald said, “where races were uncontested, we saw decreased voter participation.”

In terms of candidacy participation, MacDonald said that the “tickets broadened.” 

“I was not dissuaded at all”, said junior president Henry Art about how the new structure affected his presidential bid. This was Art’s second year as Class president. In fact, Art expressed contentment over the time frame for candidates this election. 

This sentiment was shared with sophomore and second-year student council member, Annie Art, who stated, “I actually wanted to be on student council this year as a way to work on making Greylock better during remote and hybrid learning.”

MacDonald said, “If we are still working with COVID-19 restrictions in the spring during the next election cycle, we will need to find new ways of encouraging students to run for office.”