Posters hang in the hallways. Students chatter about the candidates. Signatures are handed out like candy. Sound familiar? These are all signs of the STUCO freshman student elections.

Alone Under the Spotlight

Every year, a class president and vice president are elected as a team, as well as 10 representatives. As the class of 2020 joins SM North, one team stands above the rest—D’Angelo Allen, for class president, with Yanae Dye-Hardin, for vice president. They are the sole candidates running for the office.

Just because they are the only candidates doesn’t mean they haven’t campaigned. Bright posters urge students ‘Don’t pick your nose, pick Angelo and Yanae’, and ‘Be bright, vote for who’s right, Angelo and Yanae’.

Although he admits they’re not quite sure what they’re going to do when elected, D’Angelo says he and Yanae want “to make sure that every student feels like this is a safe environment and has what they need”.

Sara Price, STUCO sponsor, said she is looking forward to seeing D’Angelo and Yanae elected.

“They will have to do a Homecoming float and freshman T-shirts and hallway decorating,” Price said. “So, they have some creative things ahead of them.”

What the Students are Saying

Feelings among freshmen are mixed. Some support D’Angelo and Yanae, but other 9th graders have a different view on the situation. In smaller groups, some joke about ‘running themselves’ to beat D’Angelo and Yanae. However, no one was able to run before the deadline.

Adie Basey supports D’Angelo and Yanae wholeheartedly. She asserts that half of the student body shares the same view as her, and the other half simply don’t know the two candidates.

“They’ve ran multiple campaigns in the past, and I’ve known D’Angelo for a while,” Basey said.

Some other students think that D’Angelo isn’t the candidate for them. Like any general election, people agree and disagree with different candidates. What does D’Angelo have to say about this negativity? Only that “the haters gonna hate”. He firmly believes that he and Yanae “will be the best people for the job”.