Overview:

The fundraising officer is responsible for developing a fundraising action plan by identifying and suggesting fundraising opportunities and coordinating efforts with the events coordinator.  The role will be essential to ensuring a successful and eventful 2024-2025 school year, especially with regards to the extent in which the next junior prom can be planned.

Shae Gruber, the incumbent fundraising officer, is running against two new candidates this election cycle. She is facing off against fellow sophomore students Eliana Song and Yash Rajapathak. The contest for this position has been viewed as a tight race and students are eagerly waiting to cast their votes and to see the results. 

Shae Gruber (Incumbent):

Shae Gruber is an experienced student council member and fundraiser. For four years, she has held various positions relating to fundraising responsibilities in varying capacities. In 6th grade, she began her student council career as the Barclay Student Body Treasurer.  Then, in middle school, she served as a student council representative in 8th grade and served a full term as a Student Body Treasurer during her freshman year at Tamanend Middle School.  In the last year, she has also served as the Sophomore Fundraising Officer at South. Gruber has stated that she is seeking another year in this position because the role that she is passionate about her role on the student council and because she has a lot of fun working towards creating a more positive school environment.  Now more than ever, she believes her experience and motivation will be crucial to a successful junior year.

“Fundraising, a lot of people don’t realize – especially junior year – is essential to having fun events in the future. So, our junior prom, senior sunrise and sunset, and even decision day…, needs fundraising to happen,” Gruber stated.

In addition to her student council roles, Gruber has held leadership positions as the Tamanend UNICEF Unite Treasurer and as the Stage Director of the Tamanend Players Crew. In the upcoming year, she will be serving as a committee leader on the Mini-THON team, and she will be acting as the head of the sound and lights crew.

Next year, Gruber is hoping to continue her record as a proponent of fundraising efforts at South. She has stated that she plans to continue hosting smaller-scale bake sales or donut sales to maintain easy fundraising efforts, while also taking a leap towards having more schoolwide events. Gruber is planning on bringing back CB South’s Fall Fest with games and club tents to create an exciting return to school, and she will be taking part in the return of Mini-THON.

“Overall, I want to bring back school spirit through pep-rallies and by making school fun while raising money in the process,” Gruber added. “I think school spirit is low, and we are still in the process of bringing that back up…, but each year we can continue to bring spirit back to where it fully used to be while making it even better.”

Gruber’s campaign has advertised that her role on the student council brought in hundreds of dollars for the school this year.  Her goal will be to use her 4+ years of experience to raise even more money in the upcoming year, to ensure that students can have a fun school year while leaving a positive legacy on the Class of 2026.

Yash Rajapathak: 

Yash Rajapathak is a newcomer to the student council scene; however, he is no stranger to the activities at South. In the past year, he’s involved himself in DECA, a business club in which he contributed to a project that led to a conference in Hershey, PA. While Rajapthak stated he has not held formal leadership positions in these clubs, he is looking to gain experience and increase his involvement- beginning with a potential position on the Student Council.

Throughout his campaign, Rajapathak has run on the platform of “Putting the FUN in FUNdraising.”  If elected, he’s stated that he has several ideas for fundraising in our school, including raffles.

In addition, Rajapathak has expressed interest in hosting more in-school activities and events as a method to fundraise, rather than typical Dine and Donates that he felt most students are not excited about. He would encourage events including sporting tournaments and a potential school carnival. 

When discussing his idea for a sporting tournament, Rajapathak explained possible logistics. “Per team, you could have 4-5 people, and [to participate] each team could pay $10,” he said.  It is worth noting that a potential school carnival has been brought up in past conversations, although little momentum was made due to security, spacing, and financial concerns.

Ultimately, Rajapathak’s goal is to make South a more eventful and sociable place to be.

“We’ve all had so much stress.” Rajapathak emphasized. “I just want more events in the school, [and] more social interaction. I think South is a great school…, and I think we just need to be more interactive with each other and we can have fun at these events.”

Rajapathak has recently increased campaign efforts as well, creating a “mural” of his posters near the C109 Pod area on the first floor and opening a new Instagram campaign account. He has cited these efforts as a notable distinction setting him apart from his opponents, and he believes that voters should see this a positive aspect in his character when filling their ballot June.

“We’re just raising awareness, right? We’re just having fun with this…as long as I make the community more aware and put the fun in fundraising while having fun [with the campaign].”

Eliana Song:

Eliana Song is new to student council, but she is firmly committed to supporting South and its activities as the junior fundraising officer. Her open-mindedness to outside opinions and passion for creating new ways to raise money will be key assets to her campaign.

Song’s newcomer status when it comes to student council does not mean she should be underestimated on the leadership front, as she has played a crucial role in leadership in other activities.

“I’ve had experiences with leadership on my dance team and moments where I’ve had to lead the team,” Song explained.

Song has expressed interest in increasing “creative ways to raise money” and is aiming to have many more fundraising events than the school has had in the past year. She would like to encourage basketball tournaments, bake sales, and more.

One should not be shy to express new fundraising ideas with Song as fundraising officer. In her journey to grow the fundraising scene out South, she would be very much welcoming to fresh perspectives from the student body.

Song stated, “I like to take into consideration what other people want to see and want to make sure to include everyone’s opinions.”