On your mark, get set, campaign! Last Friday, April 12, a select group of Central Catholic juniors began their races for positions on the executive student council. For students eager to be the “big dog” on campus, being on the executive student council offers them opportunity to lead the CC pack, and this year, 12 candidates comprised the election pool, each with their own personality and aspirations for both STUCO and Central Catholic.

This year’s final candidates include Franco Alonzo, Alejandro Heredia, Tully Mckenna, Luis Pagan-Gonzalez, Matthew Perez, David Trevino, Matthew Gonzalez, Ty Manasco, Andres Newman-Caro, Joseph Palomera, Mitchell Porter, and Jacob Ybarra. Beginning last Friday, candidates began to advertise for their campaign by filling the school with a plethora of campaign posters. With the intention of catching the passerby’s eye, the posters often feature memes, hashtags, and jokes. There is even the occasional barcode, as seen on one of Tully Mckenna’s campaign posters, which directed anyone scanning the barcode to an online link to his YouTube channel.

On Wednesday, candidates appeared before the entire student body to give their campaign speeches. At the podium, candidates spoke about their personal qualifications for student government, their commitment to serving the entire Central Catholic community, their plans for STUCO. A few of the candidates expressed reproach in their messages for this year’s student council, citing a number of reasons including inactivity and lackluster performance, while simultaneously promising improvement, change, and action if they are elected to serve. Candidate Luis Pagan-Gonzalez, in his first STUCO campaign, ran on a specific platform which he hopes will improve the student experience and foster diversity in Central Catholic. “As I addressed in my speech, one thing that I want to make sure is that all the students feel welcome with all their own unique skills. Just because they’re into something that not everyone else is interested in, they shouldn’t have to feel like an outcast,”says Luis. “I want to help with the promotion of existing groups and clubs and also try to start new ones.” More specifically, Luis is advocating for the creation of a Central Catholic theatre department, something he is quite passionate about. “There are several reasons I’m advocating for this. I made the point in my speech that Providence High School has their own theatre department already, and that’s literally the all-girls version of this school, so I don’t understand why we don’t have one. The second reason is that since the theatre group would be performing  skits, we could use some of those skits in pep rallies to make them funnier and better quality.”

Despite campaign platforms, slogans, or posters, there are certain personal characteristics that the voter looks for in every STUCO candidate. Sophomore Noah Pocrnich believes that a good leader needs “to listen to all suggestions, to show kindness and respect, to accept others gifts and not limit others abilities, to represent the student body despite personal perspectives, and to be a representative that comprehends and acknowledges what will develop and flourish the entirety of the student population. This is what it means to be a good student council leader.”

For the current Executive Student Council officers, this is a momentous year. Not only are they living their last days as Central Catholic students, but the legacies they have fostered at Central through Student Council are being entrusted to their peers, the next line of student leaders. Nick Garza, this year’s executive student council President and Brigade Commander of Central Catholic JROTC, had some advice to give to next year’s STUCO officers: “The speeches were very well composed. The only piece of advice I want to give the incoming officers is to finish what you start and remember STUCO is more than pep rallies. Dedicate time to it and it will be something special.”

The entire student body voted on Thursday for who they believe will best serve the Central Catholic community. As of Thursday afternoon, the votes were counted and the winners decided. The administration has decided to withhold the results until Tuesday, the first day students will return to school from their Easter Break. The Central community waits in anticipation for the election results.