On Friday October 9, the students of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School selected their leaders and representatives for their grade. The results are shown as follows:
 
Freshman
Secretary: Lauren Fleckstein 
Vice President: Gabriella Rijo
President: Kyle Karyczak
 
Sophomore
President: Gabby Smulewitz
 
Juniors
Secretary: TJ Baylock
President: Isaiah Nathaniel 
 
Senior
Vice President: Josh Fox
President: Ryan Wall
 
As can be inferred, the campaigning process is far from easy. In fact, it takes a lot of planning, decision making, connecting and communicating to voters and for a few, a little less sleep. With virtual learning to consider, class elections definitely look different this year. That being said, most candidates took their campaign to the social media world.
 
“Because of at-home learning, my campaign was run through social media and over text,” said TJ Baylock, who ran for secretary for his junior class. “I spread the word of my candidacy on Instagram and Snapchat, and I texted people to let them know about the race as well.”
 
Even though campaigning is a big part of elections, it’s also important to consider the mind of the voters. The main questions that come to mind when introduced to the candidates are “Why should I vote for you?” “What do you bring to the table?” and  “What makes you more qualified than other candidates?”
 
“I’m inspired to keep running for president every year because I know that I am dedicated enough to bring in light into uniting our grade together,” said Diana Stinkova, a candidate for president representing the junior class. “I am qualified for this position because I am the president of my club, Beyond the Book Club, and I have quite a lot of leadership roles in other clubs like Operation Smile and my dance teams outside of school.”
 
As displayed in the list above, very few competed for a position; the majority of the election was selection for President, Vice President or Secretary, while some of the positions kept the same representatives from the previous year. Some of them reached success with their campaign and were pleased with the outlook of the election. However, it’s not rainbows and butterflies for everyone, especially those who lost the campaign. 
 
“I am quite disappointed in the results because the same candidates won last year,” says Stinkova, who has ran for president for three consecutive years. “Even if we had half the year in-person, not many activities seemed to happen or work out. It’s quite unfortunate that our students seemed to vote for the same person again during even a harder time since we’re virtual, but I wish good luck to them as they’ve been voted for.”
 
Student Council has expressed that they will bring school spirit to Scotch Plains-Fanwood students as virtual learning continues.