Over the past few weeks, a plethora of new posters have been popping up on the walls of Ida B. Wells High School, showing students’ faces and catchy slogans telling passersby to vote for them. These posters are the sign of the IBWd Class Cabinet elections, in which the student leaders for the next year will be decided.
According to Amelia Brown, current ASB (Associated Student Body) Executive Board Director of Spirit and IBW junior, the basic structure of the IBW student government has two branches. The first is the ASB (Associated Student Body) executive board and the second, below them, is the cabinet positions.
The ASB Executive Board is made up of seniors to ensure that members have the most leadership experience. The cabinet positions are open to any grade level, except freshmen, as they couldn’t run for office the year before. Each grade level, except for ninth, has its own cabinet, with five Cabinet positions per grade. These cabinet positions are what are being voted on right now.
The five Cabinet positions are Class President, Communications Representative, IDEA-W (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access and Wellness) Representative, Event and Activities Representative and Spirit Representative.
With fifteen positions and multiple people running for each, many students hope to be elected. Natasha Long ran for 12th-grade Director of Communications. She said that the process of running, so far, has been “pretty fun, [and feels] like it’s exciting to get [her] name out there and do something new.”
One important position being elected is 12th-grade Class President. It is the second most powerful position in the school government, after the ASB Executive Board President. Only one person ran this year. Her name is Abby Maudlin, and she is the current Junior Class Spirit and Athletics Representative.
Wondering who handles elections? Brown says, “[the] Chief of Staff is like HR for everyone and the student government, [and they also] handle election policies.” They are one of two ASB positions that are not elected but appointed. The other is the Treasurer.
The Class Cabinet system at IBW is a great way for students to get their voices heard and make a change in the school. As Brown puts it, “I think that anyone, if you want to run, just run, because it’s a way to put yourself out there, make a new community and make a difference in your school.” But even if you don’t want to run, you can still make your voice heard by communicating with the student government here.
