An oversized 17-year-old with caterpillar eyebrows and Obamaesque ears sits in Palshaw’s Newspaper class typing away. Outside the rain was dumping like it had eaten at a Hometown Buffet an hour earlier.
This kid is the senior class vice president; this kid is me. When I ran for vice president at the end of last year I never thought it would change my life in such a minute way.
According to the Carmel High School Constitution—which I didn’t even know existed until last week—the class vice presidential duties are easier than stealing candy from a baby, something I have done too many times.
The duties are as follows: assist the president in all of his/her duties, keep order in all meetings, help plan and assist with fundraisers and class activities, and lastly do all other duties that are assigned.
As easy as those duties may sound, I have come to the unfortunate realization that I rarely succeed in accomplishing any of them.
That seems to be a theme among the rest of the ASB officials as well. Although we are often attempting to make a change with certain programs like RSVP, nothing seems to actually get accomplished.
RSVP was off to a good start by asking the opinion of the student body on the changes they would like to see made around campus. However, we have failed to do anything with that information, and RSVP has come to a grinding halt like a middle school dance when a slow song comes on.
This information could really make a difference if the student body united together to make a change. For example, if all the elected ASB officials wrote letters to the district with complaints on behalf of the students, changes might be made.
However, there is some hope for Carmel High School politics. Our ASB assemblage does a good job of planning dances and setting up events like senior movie night. If this pro-active mentality were implemented into the process of solving the problems brought up by RSVP, it would be easier to wear my ASB title with pride.
My misuse of time, on the other hand, not only reflects poorly on myself, but it also tarnishes the idea of high school politics.
In fifth period Leadership class I am constantly on my phone checking my precious fantasy football team and playing “words with friends”—yeah, I brought that game back—with fellow Leadership classmate senior Traven Tapson.
Arguably the worst quality of my political self is my inability to sit through class meetings.
For example, a while back, the Leadership class was voting on how money should be spent at CHS, a vote that required the complete attention of the classes elected leaders, i.e. me. This was my first real test of leadership as vice president, and to put it lightly I did not handle it well.
At the end of the period our class was informed that every expense we had just voted on had already been processed and that our opinions really weren’t taken into consideration. I felt like a dog that was promised a walk by its owner, but instead just received a cold tile floor to nap on.
Instead of handling the situation with the poise of Vice President Joe Biden, I nearly pulled a Dick Cheney, metaphorically shooting someone.
Instead of spending time voting on aspects of school we have no control over, we should unite as a group and use our power to change aspects of the school that we as a student body don’t like, whether that be the shrinkage of the bagels or the boring nature of Carmel. We can make a difference.
I hope this article is considered a call to action for Carmel High’s elected officials, including myself, because as of now our school’s political system is sub-par.
We need more assertiveness and unity…like an outspoken Boy Scout troop, minus the ascots.
-Barrett Brothers