In the fall, the SGA held elections for class and school-wide officers. Due to the extenuating circumstances of this past school year, these fall elections took the place of the usual spring elections. This year’s school-wide SGA officers are the president, senior Claire Gelillo, the vice president, senior Sara Logsdon, the secretary, senior Danielle Carter and the treasurer, junior Carolyn Lee.

The SGA is made up of the four school-wide officers, as well as four class officers per grade, the executive board, committee members and advisory delegates. The school-wide officers set the agenda for what the SGA departments will be focusing on during and between each meeting. They help departments plan and execute various events and exist as the bridge between each department. To get more students involved, the SGA officers send out surveys, make infographics and manage an active social media.

They are responsible for working with individual class officers, surveying students, and generally representing the students in school decisions and conversations with administration. Each officer also has a specific role to play that allows the SGA to function and makes sure that every student’s voice is heard. 

The president leads all the officers and is responsible for the other officers’ actions. They also help plan events and support students through policy changes, along with the other officers. This is Gelillo’s second year as the school-wide president.

The vice president aids the president and leads the effort to gather information on student opinions of school issues. Logsdon, the vice president, was a delegate advisor on SGA’s executive board last year.

The secretary manages communications, both through email and DMs over social media, to listen to student concerns and suggestions. The secretary, Carter, has been her class secretary for the last three years, where she helped collect donations, organize events, and keep communications open.

The treasurer manages the school SGA funds and maintains financial transparency with the student body. As a junior, the treasurer, Lee, is the youngest school-wide officer. 

Every officer has a story about why they chose to become an SGA officer. In some cases, officers were inspired by their time at RM, not just as a member of SGA, but as a student. 

“I was involved with SGA during my freshman and sophomore years as a class officer. I was really inspired by the ability of the SGA to actually tackle the issues that students were facing as a student body, as well as encouraging community service initiatives and executing events that just generally made the school community a better place. I wanted to be a forefront of that myself,” Gelillo said.

For other officers, the pandemic actually inspired them to run.

“I have been class secretary and I’ve really enjoyed it,  but with everything going on, especially during senior year, I thought it would be a great time to expand my horizons,” Carter said.

During the new school environment this year especially, the officers want the students to be aware and involved in making the decision making process surrounding virtual learning. 

They are constantly looking for new ways for school administration to partner with students and get authentic input. This year, the officers are using their past experiences with the SGA to uplift the student voice even further. The officers are emphasizing availability and encouraging students to write to their email or social media with any concerns regarding virtual learning.

Most of the time, the school-wide officers work behind the scenes. They help guide class officers and coordinate meetings and events, without necessarily getting credit for their work. This year, they have promised to listen to student suggestions and concerns and represent students in this unprecedented situation.

“We will always make ourselves available for you guys,” Logsdon said.