5 replies to this topic

[Ilya R.]

Here are the Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates for the class of 2012 and their speeches:

Vice Presidential Candidates:
Iris Pepa

Marouf Hossain

Presidential Candidates:
Jacob Azrilyant:

Michelle Gorbonosov [Speech Only]:

Hey everyone, My name is Michelle Gorbonosov and I

[Jacob Azrilyant]

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Hey everybody! It’s that time of year again, where we all get together and pick your President, or at least watch the candidates’ debate it out. For those who don’t know me, although I’m sure most of you here do, I’m Jacob Azrilyant, your Junior Class President. It’s been an interesting year, we’ve had our ups, we’ve had our downs, but in the end, I can definitely say it was worth it. We’ve seen a broad scope of change in the school, we’ve achieved the Vacation Homework Policy, the Budget Reform (or, at least the end of it), the Testing Policy, and with the help of CSA and Junior Government, many of the events that you’ve been to or heard of (who here went to Semi-Formal?) Its been a productive year, which is why I believe you need to vote for me, Jacob Azrilyant, in order to keep the Progress Going.

                Let me start off by talking about the biggest positive change for the students that I have created. How many of you have heard of the new vacation homework policy? Many students this year, not just juniors, complained that their teachers assigned too much homework during a time when there was supposed to be relaxation, the whole point of what they call a “vacation.” It became especially difficult when you went away on vacation, sometimes for the whole week or 10 days or whatever it was. Nobody wants to lug around a textbook, or type up 4 page essays, or do anything revolving around school. So, Ikra (the Senior President) and I brought to you, the Vacation Homework Policy. This has to be the biggest positive change for the students in the 3 years I’ve been here. Never has there been a limit on homework, and now, here it is, a burden-free vacation, for the most part. For those who are not exactly sure what it’s about, I’ll tell you. First off, all major non-ap classes are straight up not allowed to give homework. So all those classes include con law, civil law, organic chem, etc. etc. Every other class can only give 1 nights worth of vacation homework for every 4 days of vacation. Now I know, some teacher is going to say “This is one nights worth of vacation homework, just do it” while assigning enough homework to make Baldwin Thursday seem like a joke.  If this happens, you’re allowed to appeal to the AP of that subject, and guaranteed your homework problems will be sorted out. So when you think Vacation Homework Policy, think Jacob Azrilyant.

                Now, the Budget Reform Bill is also a biggie. I proposed a budget reform bill back in September, and 8 months down the line, we have something that is much more near completion, and something that the majority of us can agree on. The bill will tackle the issue of fairly distributing money to clubs and teams. Clubs and teams have come up and said “Hey SGO, why’d you give us so little?” Well now, we’ll have a rubric that breaks down what we look at when we allocate money, and how much weight each factor has into determining what we give you. At the end of the budget process, not only will we be giving you guys money, but we’ll also give you a piece of paper that says how we got the number that tells you how we got that number. Another thing is SGO cards. I understand that this is a hot issue, and not a lot of people want to buy them. But SGO cards pay for student activities. The Principal won’t know how much he can give to Student Activities until after June 4^th, while he’s aiming at the standard $5 a student ($25,000 total, roughly), there’s no telling how much money we’ll receive. So I implore everyone to go out and buy an SGO card, in the end, it all comes back to you.

                Now I’ve talked enough about SGO policy, but now I’m gonna go in a little different direction and talk about the student voice. The basic purpose of SGO is to make the students voice get heard, and make sure the administration listens clearly. Most of what I’ve done this year I only did because the students spoke out and needed help. When printers were taken out of the library for some unknown reason, they came to SGO and complained. In a matter of one week I got the printers put back. How? I had a meeting with Ms. Zoughlami, Mr. Barclay, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Kaelin. We brainstormed ideas of what we could do since the printers were taken out, and we came up with concrete solutions. The following week I talked to Mr. Asher at SLT about the issue, and he agreed to put the printers back in the library. When LAS and SSR kids got their report cards and saw that Western Political Thought, the second period of the double period APUSH class wasn’t weighted, I went full force into attempting to get it weighted. Unfortunately, the administration also went full force against it. But in the end, the Social Studies Department and the Principal were aware of the issue, but were not willing to weigh it. On the Class of 2012 page, a person complained about hallway doors, so I asked the Principal, in a meeting I had with him one on one. They will be fixed in the future. Someone else brought up that the locker room bathroom sinks weren’t working and that the locker rooms in general needed ventilation. That night I emailed Mr. Fanning, and he responded saying that the issue will be dealt with. The point is, they heard, and in some cases, they acted.. At another point, the students spoke out against the changes in 2C3 and I acted as the bridge to the administration, but once again, the administration won because of the magnitude of the project. A vote for Jacob is a vote for communication. Another big thing is the Testing Policy. I’ve mentioned it a lot of times, but I’ve never quite explained what it was. The testing policy originated over people complaining about too many tests at the end of the marking period bunched up together. So what I did was make a testing schedule, and I showed it to Mr. Palmer, the testing AP. However, it was not practical to apply this to the end of the marking period, so instead, it was applied instead of final exams. This June, there will be no uniform final exams whatsoever. Instead, there will be a schedule where each subject teacher will have their own day to give an exam (not necessarily a final) on a certain day to which they are assigned. Teachers are strongly advised to adhere to this schedule, and if not, this can be brought up with the AP of that subject. Isn’t that a good testing policy? No final exams AND tests aren’t bunched up together? Now, over the past year we’ve seen a massive increase in communication through facebook and BTHSNews. And I don’t mean the general event communication, I’ve been telling people about projects, policies, and just other things that students wouldn’t normally know. Because of this, the membership count of the Class of 2012 page jumped. So remember, if you want communication to increase, vote for Jacob.

                In terms of events, most people are indifferent to the fights and quarrels that happen in the building, or the policies that SGO pushes forth. But one thing is certain, all seniors, and I mean ALL seniors, want a fun senior year filled with excitement . This means successful Senior Pride Days, Masquerade, Prom, and of course, Graduation. If it comes to one thing I can promise you this. You WILL have a great Masquerade, Graduation, Prom, and all that fun stuff in between. When it comes to events, the Senior Planning Committee and Committee for Student Activities will work hard as they did this year to make sure that your senior year is going to live in your memory forever. Now of course, the skeptics are gonna say, “well you’re not THAT great of an party planner.” I want to make this clear, the President alone, no matter who it is, does not have a greater say in how events turn out than any other member of the Senior Planning Committee or the Committee for Student Activities. I will be there keep order, keep things organized, and make sure things are running smoothly, but when it comes to events, I’ll let the people who know how to party plan make sure everything turns out perfect. As President, my job is to represent the students, it’s to voice their concerns, and make what they want happen. Through SLT and SGO, the President is there to make the school a better place, and while events are equally important, the President’s make role is to make sure the students have a voice.

                One issue I have that I want to address that hasn’t been touched upon yet, is Math grading. A lot of people dislike that when it comes to math, tests pretty much define your grade, and things like homework and participation, sometimes even projects, don’t count as much. Using the skills I’ve acquired this year as Junior President, I hope to use them to talk to the Math AP and possibly negotiate something that would be a bit more fairer. Everyone knows that math is always the harshest class when it comes to grading, but with a little help, maybe it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. I’m not promising this will happen. But I am promising that I will give it my best. If the vacation homework policy and testing policy worked out, why shouldn’t this one?

                In the end, vote for someone who has a broad scope of experience, and someone who’s worked hard to better the school for everyone. Vote Jacob Azrilyant, for Senior Class President 2012.

[SoLR]

Good stuff, I would love to see a candidate memorize their speech though. It show's professionalism and commitment. Best of luck to the candidates, I'm sure you guys will do a fine job.

Edit: Saw the sophomores memorize a speech or two, woohoo

[NicholeJones]

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[Asif Mahmud]

Quite interesting speeches. It seems Jacob is the only candidate for President.

[edit]

Oh it seems I've necroposted...comments on the posts on the site shouldn't be sent to the forum...

[Alanmp08]

Interesting speech. As for communication, there should be means of such via online and offline.