*Editor’s Note: On Wednesday, Nov. 11, the Election Committee and the SGA will hold an emergency debate to elect a new 5th form female-identifying form senator. Three members of the Class of 2022 have submitted candidate statements and will participate in a debate followed by a class vote. You can find their statements below. 

Why are you running for Form Senator and why didn’t you run initially?

Callie Connelly ’22:

1) I believe that it’s important for our form to be unified over H-term, but in a way that is valuable to our community. I’d like to find ways for fifth form students to be engaged and interact with one another, and I’d be more than open to taking suggestions. I think we could revive the class of ‘22 Instagram account and hold little competitions and games, something that the class could participate in and have fun with, without being too demanding or time consuming. It would also be more friendly to students outside of the Hill time zone, who are often unable to attend zoom meetings or other live events. In the spring, I would try to engage with the members of my class. In past years, I enjoyed how approachable the reps have been, and I want to continue that patter, making sure people feel comfortable coming to me with suggestions or concerns.

2) At the time of the original fifth form SGA election, I was overwhelmed. Online school and the thought of returning to campus in such unfamiliar ways was intimidating. I didn’t feel prepared to be a leader for my form because I myself didn’t know what the next year would bring. However, now that I’ve been safely and happily back in school, I feel that I’m in a better position to run.

Áine Farrell ’22:

I would be dedicated to the work of the SGA over the H Term and spring. I would plan fun events for our form to stay connected while we are virtual (that are not just form zooms). Some ideas include: among us in breakout rooms, Quizlet/Kahoot about our form, fun virtual activities for prizes, among others. Additionally, when we return to campus, I will present proposals based on the consensus of the form. 

-I did not run at the beginning of the year because I was not fully prepared to take on that responsibility at the time because my mental health was not in a good place (because of a family issue that has since been resolved). However, I feel fully equipped and prepared now to take on the responsibility of form senator. 

Rachel Maier ’22:

For the H term I would like to plan with the other members of SGA how to improve the spring term. I think since we are all away from campus it will give us a lot of time to reflect on the fall term and come up with ideas to improve the spring term. While planning out ways for improvement I think it is very important to stay connected as a form and as a community during the H term. I think we can stay connected by having zoom meetings with our form where we would be put into break rooms to get to know people that we haven’t necessarily met yet and talk about how life at home is going.

For the spring term I would like to make changes on topics such as Saturday classes, breaks, dorm rules if possible, fourth meals, and the day student and boarder interactions. I think we should either make the classes shorter on the Saturday classes or at least have less Saturday classes so that we can accommodate for the students need of a break after having classes Monday through Friday. I would love to be able to extend the flocks in the dorms and work on the rules loosening up if Covid allows for those changes. I think if possible we should focus improving the fourth meals so there is less waste of people not eating them. Also I think it is important to increase the amount of activities day students can attend on weekends so that we don’t lose the day student and boarder connections.

I did not run for SGA during the original 5th form election because I was too scared to speak in front of everyone. I’ve wanted to run in previous years but have always been too scared and ended up not running at the last second. I am not good at speaking in front of a large group of people, I get very nervous therefore I haven’t run in previous elections.