An interview survey was sent out to three members of the RHS student government, Lauren Shin (10th grade), Audrey Shin (11th grade), and Aaron Friedman (12th grade). As open communication between the student government and their respective grades has become more difficult due to the hybrid learning, these representatives hope to give their peers some insight on what they have been working on this past semester.
Lauren Shin says that for the first two marking periods of the school year, they have worked on designing merchandise for the Class of 2023. The campaign was successful, resulting in a total of 78 sweatshirts sold. Shin says that the most “important project” that their student government is working on is “finding future fundraising opportunities in a ‘COVID-world.” She says that some fundraising ideas that they have talked about includes a “RHS-themed” trivia raffles, a Chipotle fundraiser, and a spirit week hosted on Instagram.
Audrey Shin, a representative of the Class of 2022 Student Government, says that their most recent project has been to design merchandise that will hopefully be up for sale to their class by the start of the third quarter. She says that they are also planning to revamp the RHS junior Instagram account that will “provide important announcements and try to alleviate some of the stress that plagues so many juniors this year.” Additionally, the Class of 2022 Student Government has been making an effort to improve communication between students and the staff. As COVID-19 has forced everyone to interact through screens, active communication between the students and their teachers has become increasingly difficult. Shin says that they have addressed this issue by talking to the school administrators—for the next semester, the Class of 2022 is planning to make a continuous effort to form a more effective way for students to communicate with their teachers. Furthermore, Shin says that for the last semester they are trying to plan an event for the junior class. The complications that come with this event are endless, nevertheless, they have been working with the school health department to try and make it happen.
Aaron Friedman, Vice President of RHS Student Government, says that for the past semester the student government has been working tirelessly to help the students and staff in this “COVID-consumed” environment. So far, the Class of 2021 Student Government’s biggest campaign took place in September when they helped change the school-wide schedule from eight periods a day to six periods. Friedman says that “the schedule reforms have most definitely benefited staff as well as students.” When asked about the theme of the recent meetings, he said: “A central theme is checking in on how things are going, not only with the school but also with mental health. We always talk about a number of things like burnout and stress that we ourselves are going through and that students are going through in addition to regular business.”
Juliana Kye & Edward Sohn
Staff Writers
Graphic: Logan Richman