As the sophomore class adjusts to their first school year at CB South, it is always difficult getting to know the building and the new people. Recently, the student council for the class of 2026 was elected, including president Max Jin, vice president Sophia O, events coordinator Aditi Chathuruthy, fundraising officer Shae Gruber, and public relations officer Leanne Mathew. Because not everyone is familiar with each other, the class of 2026 must be curious about who their student council is and most importantly, who will be planning the events for their class. That is why an interview with the new president, Max Jin, was conducted on October 10 to learn more about him and the officers.

Q1: Why did you originally want to run for president?

Well, I ran for president this time because, first of all, last year, I was already on the student council. I was vice president at Tamanend, and I feel like there was a lot of good we were able to do with that position. Student council really gives you a platform to do good for the school, make a change, help others… So, I was very eager to get involved with student council here and run for president. Also, since we’re all new here, I felt like it would be a very easy way for us all to kind of get to know people and get to know the school better.

Q2: What events is the student council hoping to plan for this year?

So, that’s still to be decided. I know Shae, our treasurer, is talking about wanting to do a carnival type of thing, a spring fair would be nice. I was hoping for a long time – especially since high school is a lot more flexible with things with events – I was hoping to do some sort of a car show fundraiser. I know there’s a lot in the area and it brings a lot of people together, so I felt like that would be fun to have… Movie nights are a popular thing, game nights or something along those lines would be great as well. There’s a lot of possibilities.

Q3: What are you most excited about doing during your presidency?

Probably working with them… my fellow officers and getting to know people… I think we all agree that we’re really excited to get to plan the events at the school and really get to make our voices heard here.

Q4: How do you plan on running student council? What are you hoping to improve?

So, I think something that’s been a major issue that I’ve been noticing throughout this week is the lack of spirit. I feel like we have spirit days, but no one really does them. We could have pep rallies and we haven’t had our first pep rally yet, so I can’t be sure, but based on the whole thing I’m not sure how enthusiastic people are about the school itself and what student council does…

Advertising is another thing. I feel like the advertising’s been really lacking in certain areas in terms of student council events and getting events out there, spirit days. They only announce it once in the morning and on social media; I feel like we should be announcing it several times throughout the day. Lunch & Learn is a great opportunity for that. Also, hanging up posters around the building.

Another thing was – I’m not sure how feasible this would be – but I like the idea of seeing if whether or not we can improve some of the seating arrangements here. Clearly, the auditorium lobby is really nice, right, we have all these seating areas in the hallways too throughout the building, but I feel like the library, in particular, the seating is really old. That’s from 2004. At Tamanend, we had the same seats; they’re from 1999. So, they haven’t been updated in a long time, I see they’re starting to update a few areas in the library, and I’d like to see if we can push the funds to do an overall update of the area. Also, the outdoor seating… I feel like there’s not much in terms of seating, so if there’s some way we can add some there, that would be great. And one more thing, if I may add, is we have all these seating areas, but I don’t feel like there’s really any charging ports… It would be useful because people work here and stuff, so those are a few ideas.

Q5: Is there anything else you would like to tell the sophomore class?

I’m really excited to be president of the sophomore class. I’m really excited to get to know everyone and work with everyone here. I want them to know that I really feel very passionate about this, and I really do take it seriously. I know some people may think the student council may not necessarily be a big deal, per say, but I feel there’s a lot of potential for us to do a lot of good with this student council.

Max Jin gave a lot of great ideas and perspective on the school in his interview. The class of 2026 can be assured they have a lot to look forward to this year, as well as a student council they can trust to make it memorable.