As the Spring season has rolled in, the Lewis-Palmer High School student council candidates have begun their campaigns for StuCo office positions. Candidates must endure a specific campaign process in order to be selected as a member of the Lewis-Palmer student council.

Each candidate must choose which position they would like to hold in Student Council. The available positions include: class president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. There are also three member-at-large positions for students that did not win the election, but would still like the opportunity to be on student council.

“The campaign process starts with the application where five teacher recommendations are required and three essay questions are answered by the candidates,” Kendra Boone, Lewis-Palmer High School’s Student Council Adviser, said. “Then the candidates must do an interview with the executive council and myself, and then everybody votes.”

Students campaigning for student council must follow some very specific rules in order to be eligible for a candidacy. Each candidate must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and all five teacher recommendations must have a score of at least 27/30. When everything is being taken into consideration, the interview and teacher recommendations are each worth 25% of candidates overall scores, and the majority vote is worth 50%. That means that even if the candidate doesn’t win the majority vote, there is still a chance they could receive the position. Candidates must also follow some specific campaign rules so that the vote is fair.

“The rules for campaigning are that each student is allowed 25 posters, which must be 11 by 17 inches or under with the exception of two larger posters. The candidates can hand out store-bought candy only, and they are each allowed to air one commercial on LPTV if they would like,” Boone said.

While most candidates find being a part of student council a very exciting experience, some students also find it to be stressful.  Having to do interviews and campaign in front of all your peers can be extremely nerve-wracking, especially if the student is desperate for a position.

“I’m honestly not sure if the students enjoy campaigning very much,”  Boone said. “I feel like campaigning, especially when they are running against someone is very stressful.  It can start to become very emotional for most of the students.  They just want the position and when they’re not sure if they are going to win or not.It can become very stressful and emotional.”

“I am running for junior class  vice president for the 2016-2017 school year,” Kennedy Boone,10, said. “I was vice president this year and I really enjoyed it and I also worked really well with the president, Lindsey Purdham,  we had this year, so getting to work together again would be really nice.”

“The executive council conducts the interviews with Ms. Boone because it is another input on the candidate,” Sam Strasburger, student body treasurer, 12, said. “Having eight people is more beneficial when conducting the interview instead of just Ms.Boone by herself.  When we are doing the interviews we look for someone that is hard working and is self-motivated.”

Candidates were chosen on the morning of March 15th and Katie Miller was elected student body president for the 2016-2017 school year. Many other candidates received the positions they were running for and new student council members will continue to lead Lewis-Palmer’s student body.