As the 2018-2019 school year comes to a close, student leaders are already rising up to make their next year the best that it can be.

Elections for Student Council president and vice president will be held Friday, April 12 at all three lunches, with campaigning beginning this week. Juniors Aimee Weber and Zach Kerns are up against sophomores Hannah Behlmann and Sam Ardrey, with Weber and Behlmann running for president and Kerns and Ardrey running for vice president.

Unlike other StuCo positions, voting is open to students and teachers. Candidates will give their speeches over the announcements on April 11 at 2:10 p.m.

Weber and Kerns have centered their campaign around positivity to reflect upon their personalities and the atmosphere they hope to bring to Liberty. Drawing from their slogan “Making Liberty a Better Place, One Smile at a Time”, their posters feature smiley faces, bright colors, and puns.

“I would describe myself as a very positive person and I would say the same thing about Zach, which is why I think this campaign theme fits us so well,” Weber said. “We really strive to make other people happy as much as we can.”

Behlmann and Ardrey drew inspiration from the “Toy Story” series for their campaign, with slogans such as “You’ve got a friend in us”. They believe their hardworking attitudes and dedication to Liberty make them candidates the school can rely on.

“One thing that Sam and I would want to improve upon is making sure that every student feels accepted and happy in the atmosphere we have at Liberty,” Behlmann said. “We are so ready to help bring a positive change to the school we love.”

Both pairs emphasized a desire to increase school spirit and student attendance at all events.

“We would love to see many of our school activities become more inclusive to groups who don’t traditionally have as much participation,” Kerns said. “Groups such as the underclassmen and smaller clubs who don’t typically have high turnouts and participation at events will have plenty of opportunities to remain involved in the school and its activities.”

“[We want to] just make everything bigger and better,” Ardrey said. “Personally, I would love to focus more on the winter dance because that wasn’t as big as we wanted it this year, so populating that next year would be a big goal of mine.”

To current president Marlee Doniff, the election is bittersweet, but she is excited to see what the next president and vice president will accomplish.

“I love both of the groups that are running,” Doniff said. “I think either way StuCo will be in good hands next year.”
Like Doniff, the candidates had nothing but positive things to say about their opponents.  All four mentioned their friendships with each other, indicative of their character and the unity they strive to build up in Liberty whether elected or not.

“[Aimee and Zach] are some of the sweetest people I’ve met. I love having 6th hour StuCo with them,” Behlmann said.

“I wish [Hannah and Sam] the best of luck,” Weber said. “I think that Hannah and Sam are incredible people, and if they are elected they’ll do awesome too.”

J-Dubs in the Morning did a special edition of their show dedicated to StuCo elections. Take a listen: