Senior Class Candidates
April 26, 2016
Name: Kevin Kim
Senior Class Presidential Candidate
Why would you be a good candidate for this position?
I have experience being a member of Community Council and know what is required to serve as President. I volunteered for many tasks when I was Grade President during my sophomore year and will continue to do so. I am a big believer in school spirit. During the previous seasons, I was an active participant in the crown, cheering on my peers while simultaneously distracting the other teams. I am approachable and open minded, making it easy for people who have ideas/requests to discuss with me about. I am enthusiastic about doing whatever I can to make it possible for the student body to have the greatest high school experience. Being the leader of Middle School Mentoring, I am confident that the seniors will have no issue with communicating/voicing their opinions, issues, and requests to not only me, but the Council as a whole. For those who do not know me, just know that if elected, I will not only make an effort to establish a relationship with every one of you, but also make sure that you all have the greatest year of your high school career. I have so many ideas such as new events that I will make sure to implement next year if elected. I want the outsiders who don’t attend Hackley to know why we have the best community ever.
What have you done for the Hackley Community?
I am the leader of Middle School Mentoring, an active participant in school events, was a Council member (2014-2015) and volunteered to help support many events by running concession stands, had many ideas (some used, others not), and also participated in different sports teams.
What are your goals if elected?
I plan to host more school events, strengthen the relationship between upper schoolers and middle/lower schoolers, ensure faculty members are updated/informed on Community Council’s decisions, create more funding for clubs, more grade-wide field trips, initiate the steps towards ending lunch duty, expand choices of snacks at the Tuck and have custom student apparel.
Name: Luisa Stalman
Senior Class Presidential Candidate
Why would you be a good candidate for this position?
I think I have both the passion and determination necessary to ensure that we have a great senior year. Although I have only been at Hackley for a little while, this community has affected me tremendously, and I would love to give back to a school that has given me so much. I am a very committed and hardworking individual. I think these attributes make me very qualified for senior class president. I am extremely dedicated and will work my hardest to make sure we have the best senior year possible. Most importantly, I care very deeply about the Hackley community, and I want to make sure our last year on this campus is the best it can be. Next year will be a time to make memories, and I think through my friendly personality and willingness to collaborate with others we can make our senior year incredibly memorable. I think I would also do a great job organizing different events, including movie nights, the winter dance, and dodgeball tournaments. My involvement in Varsity Soccer and Track has shown me that I love working with my peers to achieve a common goal.
What have you done for the Hackley Community?
Throughout my time here at Hackley I have tried to involve myself in as many activities as possible. I am a member of the peer tutoring program as well as the Middle School Mentoring program. Both of these programs allow me to engage and collaborate with younger students. I am also an active member of the Varsity Soccer and Track teams. My involvement in the athletics has been one of the most rewarding experiences at Hackley and has also allowed me to understand the importance of sports in the Hackley community. I also like to attend as many sporting events and performances as possible. Although I am not involved in the theatre or music programs at Hackley, I love to show my support by attending Coffeehouses and plays. I am also a school ambassador, and I was recently named Ambassador of the Month. I feel very fortunate to represent Hackley and share with prospective families the highlights of being a Hackley student. In my time at Hackley, I have also been very involved with our grade project at PS81. Not only did I help organize our toy drive, but I also helped out with a fundraising event for Change for Kids with around eight other Hackley students. I am very interested in the Hackley community, and I would love to further my involvement next year as a member of Community Council.
What are your goals if elected?
My primary goal if elected is to increase student involvement in the decision-making process on Council. I want to get feedback from my peers in order to make Council more representative of the student body. As the Senior Grade President, I would utilize my ability to effectively reach out to all students to get input from them so they can tell me how they would like to improve the Hackley community. In the past years, I have felt that students have very little say in what goes on in Council. If elected, my initiative would be to advocate for students, so their opinions and concerns are heard on council. Another goal of mine is to increase student turnout at sporting and artistic events. All in all, I want to make sure I get feedback from the student body in order to make our senior year the most memorable and exciting that it can be.
Name: Chris Thompson
Senior Class Presidential Candidate
Why would you be a good candidate for this position?
Having held this position previously, I believe I have both the passion and experience necessary to make our senior year the best one yet. I, along with the then freshman and sophomore Council, helped plan Manhunt, I helped the Council create the very first Snowball, I helped continue the tradition of spirit week. I know what is feasible and what is too ambitious, I know what works, and what doesn’t. In other words, I gave council everything I had, and will gladly do so again.
What have you done for the Hackley Community?
When on council my freshman year, I helped come up with and plan many events, such as the first Snowball and Manhunt. When setting up events such as those, I made a habit of arriving early and leaving late, so I could contribute as much as possible. I also helped Community Council generate much needed funds by participating in concession stands.
I also contribute to the community through extracurriculars. Last year, several debaters including me helped set up, organize, and generally made things run smoothly with a national middle school debate, where a Hackley team won first place. This year, in addition to debating myself, I have helped judge in many novice and JV tournaments. I have also been a part of several teams, including Cross Country and Track, and even being a captain of the Fencing team, helping underclassmen acclimate to the dedicated high school teams. I am also the co captain of one of Hackley’s political clubs, where we talk about the elections and politics in general, and in fact will be having a debate soon.
What are your goals if elected?
On Council I hope to both build off of old events and create new ones. Hopefully, with my assistance, events such as the Snowball and spirit week can be even more successful than before. Obviously, one of the only ways we can hold these greater events and new events is by having the money to do so, and so I hope to use concession stands to generate said money, in addition to continuing the selling of Hive clothing. Having enough money allows us to explore new options for events that were once thought impossible, allowing us to have some of the best events seen yet.
Name: Tyler Sexton-Hotmeier
Senior Class Representative Candidate
Why would you be a good candidate for this position?
I have been on Council for the past two years, so I know what kinds of ideas are possible, and what it takes to get them to happen. I feel as if I’m very approachable and get along with everybody, so if anyone has any questions about what is going on at countil or has ideas for what we should try to do they can come to me without any hesitation. I also like to think I have a wide range of friends which would help me in coming up with ideas that all different kinds of people would like. I’m reliable, so if you ask me to do something I will almost always get it done for you. That reliability has showed in that I have almost never missed a Council meeting in the last two years unless I had a conflict with a game. I’m flexible, so if changes need to be made to ideas for them to work I’m happy to maake those changes. Lastly, I am generally very optimistic, which may not seem that important for a Council position, but it could be the difference between getting an event done or not. My optimism makes it so I always feel as if we can get an event done whether it is difficult due to a time crunch, funding, or really anything else. Having attended and been a part of the planning of the events during the past two years, I have gotten a better sense of what makes the better events work well and what went wrong at the events that haven’t gone as well. I think that while I may not be the most creative person, I can still come up with good ideas, or take parts of other people on and off Council’s ideas to make them either better or more manageable. Overall, I think that my past experiences on council make me better suited than almost anyone to both understand the way council gets things done, and to succeed in getting the most out of Council next year.
What have you done for the Hackley Community?
I have been a grade rep the last two years. I have been on the Basketball team since freshman year and am currently on the Baseball team. I’ve been to numerous games, most plays, and almost all other events we have had since freshman year. I am also a peer advisor as well as a Middle School mentor, so I like working with people.
What are your goals if elected?
I would of course like to increase school spirit in any way possible, have a mini golf tournament on Akin Common and the Quad and have smaller competitions such as spike ball or Kan Jam tournaments be common occurrences rather than one-off events. I would also like to find a way to get people who aren’t on Council more involved with what goes on at Council.
Name: Seth Tilliss
Senior Class Representative Candidate
Why would you be a good candidate for this position?
I believe that I am a great candidate for Grade Rep for a multitude of reasons:
- I have been at Hackley since kindergarten and know all the “ins and outs” of Hackley and its campus. Being a lifer, I have also developed strong relationships with the faculty and students.
- I have been a dedicated member of Community Council for 3 years and have tons of experience scheduling, planning, and executing events. Additionally, I know which types of events work and which don’t, as well as what the student body wants more and less of.
- I am a strong, interested student with a diverse set of interests. Academics are important to me, and I challenge myself with difficult classes such as AP Calculus AB and AP Computer Science, but I am also an involved member of the community (see below).
- I play two Varsity sports, Soccer and Golf, and have made personal connections with teammates of all grade levels. Additionally, these sports have taught me key lessons of leadership, teamwork, and perseverance.
- I am passionate about debate, and as a member of the varsity debate team, I enjoy competing at the national level, representing Hackley.
- I am a member of clubs, such as Pondering the Universe and Middle School Mentoring, and am helping create a new club next year centered around interactive science projects with local public school children.
- I am likable and personable, which makes it easy for students to approach me with comments, concerns, complaints, or ideas.
- I have tons of school spirit. I was on council the year The Hive was created and I attend as many plays, sporting events, and coffeehouses as possible. Overall, I love supporting my friends and watching them perform and compete.
But most of all, I genuinely love this school, its students, its teachers, and being on Community Council, and for those reasons, you should vote for me to be your grade representative.
What have you done for the Hackley Community?
In my 3 years of Community Council, I have been a part of tons of events and have a great understanding of what has historically worked, and want hasn’t. This experience is extremely valuable and will make me a council member who can immediately contribute and help plan events next year without any hesitation. Furthermore, I know Council’s power and limitations, so I will propose the best, most realistic ideas to make next year great.
In my tenure on council I have proposed, initiated, executed, or contributed to (not fully inclusive):
The creation of The Hive, designing and selling of Hive apparel (scarves, shirts, etc), many gym and movie nights, spirit week, field day, Snowball, bonfires, turkey and candy grams, happiness days, stress downs, video game competitions, advertising for and attending plays, sporting events, and other school activities, pep rallies, apple eating contests, community time events, special guest speakers, man hunt, dodgeball, Hackley Woodstock (coming soon!), and more.
Furthermore, I have made an imprint on the school community by constantly supporting all of my peers and pioneering clubs and events the school has never seen before.
What are your goals if elected?
If elected, I hope to make next year the best year Hackley has ever had. I want to end the final chapter of my Hackley career with a bang. We will strive for packed houses at every play and coffeehouse, spirited students cheering on our sports teams, and super fun events for the entire high school community.
Specifically, some events I have in mind (not necessarily originally mine) include, but are not limited to:
- An improved Snowball or school dance -Revamped movie nights
- A pool party
- Mini-golf
- A boardwalk carnival style event
- Laser tag
- Manhunt
- Taste of Tarrytown
