Get to Know Your 2021-2022 Executive Officers
ACP recently had the annual Student Government executive election, and all the students were able to learn so much about their candidates, their goals, and their aspirations for the school. Just last week, our school administration announced who won the election and who will be dedicated to making our school a better place next year. Here are the newest representatives of the school:
- Hunter Bickes: Student Body President
- Kaiah Walsh: Student Body Vice President
- Tarryn Weigand: Secretary
- Morgan Applegate: Treasurer
- Carrie Chen: Club/Link Liaison
- Kayden Martinez: Spirit Commissioner
Congratulations to our new Student Government officers. We are looking forward to all of you representing the student body and the ACP community throughout the year at various school and community events. I was able to ask a few questions to our newest officers to get to know them a little bit better.
Q: Who is a leader you admire? Explain why.
Kaiah: There’s a lot of leaders I admire, but one that sticks out to me the most is Malala Yousafzai. She became a leader and the face of a movement when she was incredibly young, but she took it in stride and became an advocate for gender equality especially in education. I really admire the way that she led by having the courage to raise her voice where women had been silenced for so long, and I love that she has continued to fight for what she believes despite attempts on her life and criticism. I think she’s an awesome role model!
Hunter: The main person I can think of that I look up to is my sister. She was in student government for all of high school as well and also held an executive position, so she really did inspire me to join StuGo and to also be student body president. I always have looked up to her, and she has taught me a ton while being an example for me to follow.
Carrie: A leader I really admire is my mom. She’s one of the most inspiring people in my life, and she’s able to balance being an amazing mom along with being an effective leader in her workplace. She uses her communication and problem-solving skills every day to resolve issues at work, and since she works in the medical field, her work saves lives every day. I admire how hardworking she is and also how patient she can be when things go wrong, which are traits I want to embody as a leader.
Q: What opportunities have you had to demonstrate leadership?
Kayden: Throughout being in high school, I have been given opportunities that most don’t get. I’ve been apart of so many different committees within StuGo that really helped me be able to demonstrate my leadership skills. Whether that was from leading committees such as teacher appreciation to planning assemblies or dances such as Homecoming. I’ve also been able to demonstrate leadership outside of school by being a part of an organization known as AASC, which I was able to be a finalist for in the State President leadership role. There are so many different experiences I have had and so many new ones yet to come.
Hunter: I have been in Student Government for the past three years, and through that, I have had ample opportunities to demonstrate leadership. I have been able to lead Student Council through planning Homecoming activities, assemblies, and this year even virtual events. It is a lot of fun to be a leader at ACP, and there are great lessons and rewards from doing so. The best part of leading is producing something that other people get to enjoy; it’s a great feeling and really awesome thing to see.
Kaiah: My main opportunities I’ve had to demonstrate leadership have come from StuGo and Theatre. I joined StuGo in my sophomore year, and I was pretty shy and quiet for a while because I wasn’t sure how to become a “leader”. However, pretty soon I started to take opportunities presented to me like Co-Head and Head positions, and by junior year I was heading committees like Knightmare and Hoco Lunch, which all gave me great leadership opportunities and allowed me to work in team with so many of the other StuGo kids. I’ve been involved with KOS since my freshman year and have participated both on and offstage for almost every production, co-leading things like vocal training, which allowed me to step outside my comfort zone and actually help run parts of a production I was really passionate about.
Carrie: I’ve had opportunities the last four years in StuGo to show my leadership, particularly when planning decoration weeks and other events. I’ve been given chances to be the committee head of several committees, where I’ve been in charge of planning and executing them along with members of my committee. Other than that, in terms of the student body in general, I always try to take the lead when it comes to participation and school spirit.
Q: What was your favorite thing about running for the position?
Kayden: It was really fun to be able to see everyone’s posters and entire campaign. The six of us are such a close-knit group of friends, so it was fun the entire time. The most nerve-racking part was the waiting process and see who ended up where.
Kaiah: My favorite thing about running for my position, apart from all the high school musical references made, was definitely getting to meet people and hear their ideas for the school even before any of us execs had been officially elected. My face was literally in flyers hanging above the bathroom sinks so a lot of people from ACP that I hadn’t really spoken to started coming up to me and asking me questions about campaigning and executives or even suggesting new ideas StuGo could implement next year. It was super cool.
Hunter: My favorite thing about running for student body president was the campaign in general. It was a fun thing to do to put myself out there, and it gave me a lot of room to be creative. Just putting together a campaign entails a ton of work, but it was great to be able to pick a theme and make many creative ads and a fun video around that theme.
Carrie: My favorite thing about running for my position this year was campaigning and hearing feedback and interaction from the student body. It was a really rewarding feeling to have people tell me they wanted to vote for me or ask me questions about my campaign in general. After being here for three years, it just felt like I was putting myself out there and I really enjoyed that!
Q: What are some ideas you want to bring to the table?
Kayden: There are so many things that I want to implement next year with our new facilities. I don’t want to give too much away because we are planning a whole bunch of fun things, but all I’m saying everything’s going to be bigger and better.
Kaiah: Next year, I want to bring so many ideas to the table, especially ones that the student body suggests themselves. I also have quite a few ideas that I think would bring more school spirit to campus such as re-introducing and revamping BOTC, having more opportunities for students to showcase their work, etc. Really, I want to hear ideas from the student body, all different groups of students, and work to implement them as best as I can!
Hunter: I don’t know if I have any specific new ideas I want to bring to the table just yet, but the biggest thing I want to emphasize as being president is just to make everything bigger and better, especially since we will be at a new campus. But there will definitely be a ton of new fresh things next year to look out for. I am excited to be able to have the opportunity to be the first president at the new school and be able to bring to the table many new traditions/events that will be able to be enjoyed by knights for years to come.
Carrie: My main goal is inclusiveness and unity on campus; almost every student has at least one club or activity they are interested in, so I want to bring all of those together to better support clubs that are less recognized and organize events to better benefit all of them. For example, making a place where all clubs can share their information with the student body and having more collaborations with StuGo so that all organizations can get as much support and success as possible.
Q: What would you do to improve our school?
Kayden: To improve the school I would definitely focus on unity between the entire student body. Having friends in different grades is such an amazing thing. We all live different lives and all have our own unique high school experiences and there’s nothing better than sharing those with others. Improving the unity between everyone would just lead to a more positive environment.
Kaiah: Especially with the shift to the new campus, I want to start advocating to hear more of the voices of the general student population. I have heard so many ideas from people I’ve sat next to in classes or at football games, and it’s really important to me that our school is a place where everyone has something they enjoy. I think by hearing everyone’s ideas and opinions the school can become even more like what we want it to be.
Hunter: There isn’t something specific I want to change about ACP, but instead I want to preserve the ACP family feel even at the new bigger campus. At the end of the day, it’s a new campus and not a new school, so I think it is important to keep the same family feeling that every knight should get to be a part of.
Carrie: Kind of like I said before, the thing I think our school will benefit the most from would be unity and support between all of our organizations. I want to help foster these connections so that even after I graduate, that culture stays at the new campus with the new students.
Q: What is the most satisfying thing about being in a leadership role?
Kayden: Personally, I don’t do the things I do for myself. I do them for the Student Body. As cliche as it may sound, I really do enjoy seeing everyone’s initial reaction when they first see whatever StuGo is putting on. One memory I have is my sophomore year when I was given the opportunity to lead a committee to plan a homecoming. After blood, sweat, and tears went into that event, when people first walked in it was so surreal to see everyone’s reaction and it couldn’t have given me a better feeling.
Kaiah: I think the most satisfying thing is that it’s easier for me to be an advocate for the students, for clubs, for teachers, and for StuGo. Through my role, I can have a bigger outreach in the student body as well as with the administrators, and I can present and implement ideas that I hear or come up with myself that I think can really benefit the school. This can still be accomplished without a specific title or position, but I do think it’s really satisfying to know that I can present ideas and have them taken even more seriously!
Hunter: The best part about having a leadership role is leading people to produce a product that everyone at ACP gets to be a part of or enjoy. It is a rewarding feeling seeing your hard work pay off and seeing the ACP community having fun and enjoying their high school experience because of the work you put together.
Carrie: I would say the most satisfying part about being in this role is that with all the ideas I had before, I can now make them a reality. I just have to take the initiative to make the changes that the student body wants, but I know I’ll have a lot of support.
Thank you to all the newest executives for these amazing answers. Our students are looking forward to getting to know all of you better next year.
