The Student Government Association (SGA) made significant changes to the election process this year, including more campaigning from candidates, improved live speeches, and a new voting system. The elections, which took place in early April, saw the establishment of a new president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer for each grade at Wilson, along with a student body president and vice president to represent all grades.

“This year, we opened up the elections in order to make sure everyone was aware of them,” said vice principal Gregory Bargeman, facilitator of this year’s elections. Bargeman added that in the past student involvement had been lacking, and that this year the number of students participating increased greatly. This, he said, was because candidates were given an opportunity to present their plans and goals for the future, and student voters were able to learn more about the candidate they were casting their vote towards.

Bargeman also mentioned the new electronic voting system, which allowed students to cast their votes online directly after the speeches. “We tried using a new electronic voting system this year. We encountered some issues with the system with the 10th grade class, and we need to make sure it works before using it again,” said Bargeman. These issues led to a re-vote on paper the following two days in sophomore history classes.

Current SGA Student Body President Georgia Woscoboinik added that the lead-up to the elections this year was different from previous years. “[This year] was the first time in a while that we had speeches and PowerPoint slides on atrium TV screens to introduce the candidates,” said Woscoboinik. She also noticed increased diversity among this year’s candidates. “[This year] was also the most diverse group of candidates we’ve had which was incredible.”

Winners are optimistic about their futures in student government at Wilson. SGA Student Body President-elect Leo Saunders wants to increase student involvement with the SGA. “I want more student body incorporation in the SGA. Most people don’t really know that much about the SGA and how it works, and I want to change that.” he said. Saunders added that he also wants to hear from the student body about ideas they have for the school. “I want more creative input from the student body in order to make the SGA as effective as possible in representing the school.”