Alex Meyer

Junior Class Presidential Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

I think that I would be a good candidate for this position for numerous reasons. I really care about everyone in our grade, and I would love to be given a chance to represent them to the other members of council. I would never want any ideas from our grade to be overlooked or not implemented because someone didn’t support them or pursue them. I treat everyone with kindness and respect, and would always listen to any proposals brought forth to me with careful consideration.

I am an experienced leader, because I am co-leader of the PS81 community service group, which in one year has already grown into something everyone knows about in the Hackley community. Because of all the events we conduct to raise revenue for the students at PS81 and such as trips we take, the dodgeball tournament last year, our record breaking bake sale, and the toy drive, the students at PS81 are given new supplies and things they need to work more productively. I think that if our community service group can be so successful in raising money for the students at PS81, I can be just as successful in raising money for Hackley students to fund the events that we all enjoy, such as the Snowball and the coffeehouses.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

As one of the leaders of the PS81 Community service group, I have helped organize and put together many events for the Hackley community. I have organized trips on the weekends for our grade members to go and visit the kids and interact with them, and they have been highly successful. Our return rates for these trips are very high, and both the Hackley students going to PS81 and the students there have been very impacted by these visits. Furthermore, I helped organize the dodgeball tournament last year that we will be now making an annual event. This year, I helped design the shirts, generate ideas that are new and improved from last year’s tournament, and made posters to get people to attend. Last year, it was very successful and a large amount of the student body attended. A lot of positive feedback was given about it as well. I also co-organized the toy drive this holiday season for the students at PS81. It was also extremely successful, and our results were amazing. After successfully developing this program, in coordination with Mr. Sykes, we made our First Friday activity a trip to PS81, which most people enjoyed and had a good time at.

What are your goals if elected?

Some of the things that I want to achieve next year are big, and will require more work and involvement of the grade, and some are small. As for the small things, I think that our lunchroom really needs a toaster.  The line to the panini maker would decrease significantly, and students would have much more time to utilize their lunch period, which is a time for students to relax and socialize with their peers. Another thing that I want to do for not only our grade but promote to the whole school is getting more student made Hive gear/Hackley gear that would have student made designs people can submit. By increasing the amount of gear we sold, we could raise money for fun events that we want to hold, such as a color run in the trails, a haunted house around Halloween time, or an outdoor carnival in the spring where students could perform (almost like an outdoor coffeehouse). I also want to increase the support we have for our fellow class members and also increase our spirit and attendance at events!! I personally know that during my field hockey or lacrosse games when I see all of the people come to watch and support us, it makes me so happy and pumped up that they’re there, and glad I’m part of such an awesome place where we all support each other. One of my primary goals is to make every event that people in our grade are participating the place to be. Whether it be our plays, sporting events, or community service trips – I want us all to be there for one another so we can all feel that gratitude towards our fellow classmates that do come, and I think that will really unify us and keep us as the most connected and involved grade at Hackley.

Malcolm Roesser

Junior Class Presidential Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

Throughout my life, I have always naturally taken up leadership roles. From a young age, I have been involved in student government and other leadership positions whether it was 8th Grade Vice President or Boy Scouts Patrol Leader, therefore giving me a lot of experience with being a leader. I want to make a difference in our grade, in an efficient and understanding matter. I am very familiar with almost every student in my grade, and I hope that this will help me seem very approachable for people to present their ideas, ask questions or advice, etc. I am not afraid to take on a heavy workload (as shown by my onerous schedule) and I always rise to the occasion to get the job done.  I feel that if elected class president, I can accomplish every duty of this position adequately and that I will be able to go above and beyond to accomplish more than is asked of me.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

In my short career at Hackley, I have helped with and attended many important events such as various PS81 outings and last year’s highly successful dodgeball tournament, and I wish to continue making a difference not only in my grade but in the high-school as a whole. I try to be as involved in Hackley’s Community as possible by playing sports, taking part in clubs (and starting the Latin Club, which is still in the works), and supporting my fellow students at various sporting and musical events.

What are your goals if elected?

If elected, there are a few things that I hope to accomplish. The first is to increase the number of grade events and improve the outcome/degree of success for said events, such as fundraisers (like the dodgeball tournament) and charity outings (such as PS81 and the Toy Drives). In addition, I wish to increase school spirit and get the whole grade involved whether it is getting more kids to show up at sports games and stings (especially those who don’t get as many spectators, such as tennis, softball, etc.) or increasing the number of ambassadors for our grade. Finally, I want to make everyone in my grade feel well represented; my grade is one of the most intelligent groups of people that i have ever happened upon, and I know that by working together we can make a huge difference not only for ourselves but for Hackley in general.

Ryan Smith

Junior Class Presidential Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

I would be a good candidate for this position because of my ability to take the role of leadership. Since I’ve started Hackley in kindergarten, I would always be a leader. I wouldn’t be the kid who stands around and just listens to what’s going on. I would always try to make things more fun and exciting for my peers and for myself. I am also a very friendly person who tries to interact with all my classmates. For example, last year when a bunch of new kids came in to our grade; my goal was to try to have a conversation with all of them by the end of the first trimester. I was able to get that task done and now a lot of those kids are my best friends. Another reason I would be a good candidate is because when I start something, I always get it done. These are a couple of reasons of why I think I would be a good candidate.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

I have participated in a couple of Midnight Runs. I have been to PS81 during the weekends to help out the kids in Brooklyn. I have gone to many sporting events to cheer and to play in.

What are your goals if elected?

My goals are if elected are to try to get our grades voice heard. If anyone has any ideas but are not on council my goal is to relay their ideas to council and try to make their idea work. There are lots of people with great ideas who are just to shy to put their ideas out there and I don’t want their ideas to go to waste.

Akash Samad

Junior Class Representative Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

I would be a good candidate for this position because I am always open to new ideas that my peers could have. Being an older brother of a seven year-old, I have experience compromising with the most stubborn of people. Other then being a role model for my little brother I tend to my distance team as if they were family. I motivate the younger runners and advise them on how they can improve their personal times. I set up different plans of achieving the same end result. Being a runner myself also allows me to be patient and determined to reach my goals. I may not talk much, but when I do others know that I am taking situations seriously rather than not caring. I understand a majority of the difficulties my fellow students may undergo and I have always been calm tackling some of the worst scenarios. Other than being just a representative of my class I feel that my connection with underclassmen will allow me to extend the range of people I represent in council. Being an open-minded compromiser, representing my grade at council will reflect the leadership characteristics I have on a greater scale.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

In the middle of the year I saw a sophomore harassing a freshman and I stepped in to intervene (students’ names will not be disclosed). I am also a three-season athlete who actively encourages younger and new athletes to strive for better results. I also enjoy working with PS81; if not interacting with the children directly I do not mind the manual labor when it comes to setting up classrooms for the children.

What are your goals if elected?

I want to make Hackley everyday life less stressful with more community events where students are able to connect with other students they wouldn’t normally talk to. I would also like to improve attendance at sport’s events so that Stings aren’t the only times when it becomes an obligation to come to sport events. I’d also like to use social media to better the distribution of topics discussed by council so that the students are aware of activities. Efficiency is key and the best way to be efficient is to consider student needs, so the use of social media to relay council information can cause an increase of spirited events throughout the school year.

Stephen Tannenbaum

Junior Class Representative Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

I have been involved in the Hackley community for 7 years. Having played on sports teams and classes with my comrades, I can express their views.  I go to the entire sting, holiday, movie, and some game events provided by council.  I know how they operate and have turned out, with this experience I can help improve the events.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

I have participated in community held events.  During the week when help is needed in the tuck, I provide services bringing in packages.  I am in five clubs and participate in all of them.  Finally I have worked and gone to all tenth grade events, especially PS81.  I hope to continue this next year in eleventh grade.

What are your goals if elected?

If I am elected as the student representative, I will help the other members organize and build events.  I will go to events, and try to make it to sports games.  As the grade representative I will go to every community council events to represent your ideas.  If you vote for me, the 2015 year will be the TannenBOMB!

Seth Tilliss

Junior Class Representative Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

I believe that I am a good candidate for grade representative for three main reasons: I have two years of Community Council experience under my belt, I am friendly and approachable, I love Hackley and genuinely enjoy planning and attending Hackley events. Over the course of the past two years, I have seen how council works, as an underclassman, and if I was to be elected for junior year, I could take a leadership role in council. I find school spirit to be extremely important, and I already go to tons of sporting events, so being on council would spread my school spirit to kids across all grades. I have been at Hackley since kindergarten, which means I have come to know and love this amazing school over the past 11 years. Very few people in the Upper School can say they have spent the amount of time at, and formed the same kind of bond with the school, that I have. Lastly, and by no means worth the least, I know how to DJ, which would be extremely convenient when Council is planning dance/party events next year.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

I think the best testament to my devotion for the Hackley Community and Council, is the hay bale currently sitting outside the door to the steps leading to the Dean’s office. I went out of my way to go to Stew Leonards and purchase hay bales and corn stalks for Cowboy Day. Other things I have done to benefit the Hackley Community include: running concession stands, getting people fired up at games, promoting planning, and attending Hackley events, and simply being friendly and helpful with everyone on a daily basis.

What are your goals if elected?

One idea I proposed to Council this year was the idea of an outdoor Coffeehouse in the spring. The idea never panned out, but I would love to try and pull it off next year. For next year, I would also like to attempt either laser tag, or a boardwalk carnival, as were proposed by Eli Pinkus and Kevin Kim this year. Another idea of mine was to try and have a gigantic, terrifying haunted house around Halloween.

Also, my grade plans an annual dodgeball tournament, and I wonder if that idea could become an epic, school-wide tournament. I have great ideas swirling around in my head next year, but in order for them to materialize into a reality, I need to be elected.

Jack Weyndling

Junior Class Representative Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

I think that I would be a good class representative for a plethora of reasons. One of which is my dedication to my class and my peers. On a daily basis I communicate and talk to a lot people in my grade on a social and work level. I posses all of the qualities that are necessary of a class representative, which are being dedicated to your work, being very open minded, and having a certain type of social personality.  I think that I can use this social aspect to communicate with lots of different people in my grade, to mine and the schools advantage. By harnessing my talkative nature from purely a social standpoint into a working standpoint, I will be able to benefit community council and my peers, by thinking of and listening to lots of great ideas. One of the main jobs of Grade Rep is to communicate with their fellow peers and listen to the ideas that they have for school events or projects that they think would benefit the school, and I have no problem going around and talking to all of the different and interesting people in my grade. That is one of my strong suits, and it would be an honor to put it to good use and to try and let the school and the student body benefit from it. I have tried to be active in as many extra-curricular activities as possible, without being on community council. I was active in the dodgeball initiative last year which turned out to be very popular, and the benefits from it were donated to PS81 in Brooklyn. I also have participated in the field trips that we have taken down to Brooklyn to play with the kids and to try and help raise money for some of them. I am willing to dedicate my free time to helping community council fundraise and plan for events in which the school will enjoy and benefit from. I think that I would be a great candidate for this position, even though I don’t have any experience on community council, I would bring a fresh face to the table with lots of great ideas on how to make the school better, and to make the student body happier.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

I have helped organize numerous events which have been extremely successful. Some of these events include the dodgeball tournament last year and trips down to PS81 in the fall and winter. As well as helping to organize events, I have represented Hackley well, by never getting in trouble inside or outside of school. I have also always followed the Hackley rules and guidelines in which are school is based upon, and followed the standard at which a Hackley student is expected to live by.

What are your goals if elected?

If I am elected one of my goals will to try and start the campaign for a school wide Olympics at the end of the year instead of a field day. The idea of this “Olympics”, is for their to be a school wide competition between the freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. This competition consists of many of the sports and games that we play every day. Some of these sports may include, dodgeball, badminton, soccer, Kan-Jam, Matball, Tug-O-War, and numerous other fun gym sports. The purpose of “Olympics”, is to raise school wide spirit, and to look forward to something at the end of the year instead of boring and non-competitive field day. As well as having a fun aspect to it, it can be also used as a way to raise money for community council or for a school or organization such as PS81. We could raise this money by selling t-shirts to each grade that has their class such as sophomore and their grade color. This may take a lot of planning from to community council to pull off with the help of some teachers, but it is worth it in the end, because it is a great way to bring all four grades together at the end of the year and to raise some money while doing it. Another goal of mine is to expand the concession stands and add some more food or different kinds of food in order to increase revenue. These are just a couple of my goals that I will look to put forth if I were to be elected.

Tyler Sexton-Holtmeier

Junior Class Representative Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

I was on Council this year, so I know how Council works and how things get done. I am also a good listener so I can take people who are not on Council’s ideas to the Council. I am also open-minded, so I will consider everyone’s ideas, and I’m not judgmental, so I will consider all ideas equally.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

I was on Council this year, so I helped plan all of the events this year such as movie night and the Snowball. I have tried to go to games and support the teams, and I have tried to be generally friendly to everyone.

What are your goals if elected?

My goals are to create a new school chant/cheer for games other than the generic “ Go Hack.” I think we should also get class T-shirts, raise more spirit, and attendance for games, and create weekly competitions between grades to increase the fun in the average week.

Roya Wolfe

Junior Class Representative Candidate

Why would you be a good candidate for this position?

I would be a great candidate for this position, because I work hard, I have leadership experience, and I care. I get what needs to be done proactively. As a leader of the diversity club, UNITY, a soup kitchen club leader, and a person who’s attended three leadership conferences, I can honestly say I have a lot of experience. I care about my community, peers, faculty, and school. I want to help make the Hackley community even better than it currently is. I’m an extroverted, friendly person, and I’m always there to hear people’s voices and opinions.

What have you done for the Hackley Community?

• I was a member of Tuesday Helpers in eighth grade, which means every Tuesday I would go help lower school students with their homework
• I was the class president in eighth grade and I organized multiple events such as the first outdoor movie night on Pickert Field and a gigantic game of manhunt
• I organized and lead a fundraiser in ninth grade for the Tree of Life Orphanage in Haiti, where students and faculty bought T-Shirts, bringing in around $950
• I helped lead a Girl Up initiative in the Hackley community, bringing attention and awareness to the need for global education for girls
• On Earth Day last year Karina Franke and I presented a PowerPoint and lead a Take Back the Tap initiative promoting the usage of reusable water bottles and drinking tap water
• I’ve been attending the PS81 school with fellow peers and tenth graders for the last two years now, playing with inner city kids on a Saturday once a month
• I was the ninth grade coordinator, and now I’m currently the tenth grade coordinator, for the diversity club UNITY
• I’m a member of The Dial and I write articles discussing different subjects about the Hackley community
• I will be one of the co-leaders of the soup kitchen club next year

What are your goals if elected?

If elected, I have goals for Community Council. First, I want Community Council to be more accessible, and for all of us as a grade to know what they discuss. To do that, I’ll take notes at the Community Council meetings, and post them on the bulletin board in the Dean’s office.  I’m also a member of The Dial, and I had an idea to start a Community Council section online. We could have a special photo gallery or section on the online newspaper where we could post photos from Community Council organized events. Second, I want to bring the whole High School together in a really fun active way, and I thought, why not have a giant water fight? It could be held at the end of spring sting or field day. We could sell water balloons to raise money for future council events, and it would be so much fun. Third, I want there to be more spirit for events involving the arts. I love sports too, and I always think there could be more spirit, but it would be great to see people with tattoos of hornets playing violins on their faces on the day of the orchestra concert, or stickers with paint brushed on them on the days of the art shows.