TBLS Student Elections

By: David Ramos Class II

Photo Credit: Kielan Santos, TBLS alumnus

With the results of another successful student election at TBLS coming out and both new and reelected candidates taking their positions in representing their respective classes. It’s important to recap on such a meaningful annual event at this school.

Town Hall

One aspect that makes student elections at TBLS unique is the Town Hall event that happens a week before the actual election. Making its debut last year for the 2024-25 school year, it has been a popular hit ever since. During Monday extended homeroom, senate candidates take part in a zoom meeting that is broadcast to every homeroom for their grade. They first share their statements on what they promise to accomplish and policies they will advocate for. Then they are asked questions on their experience and character with 30 seconds to answer. 

Many discips have praised this new addition and have spoken about how it aids in their final voting decisions. Jeremy Li class II claimed it was “the outlet that I could use to understand the candidates” and where “I could hear what each candidate would advocate for”. And Matthew Jacome class II saying that “without it I might’ve been quite undecided on who to elect”.

Senate Meetings

What do the senators actually do once in office? Two-time elected senator Arihunt Garg class II shared that in a typical senate meeting “all the tribunes and senators corroborate on one big project whether it be a big school event, a fundraising initiative, or making our school known outside the building, which I am currently working on.” In terms of senate organization, he added that “the Senate is divided into 5 committees each focused on their own role; spirit, resources, senior, equity, and outreach, which I am in with Zuri Tompson and Victory Tom”. As representatives of their peers, our senators work to support our community through these weekly meetings. 

Senate - Social Media

Student Senate is also active on social media with their instagram account @tblsstudentsenate, where they post school events like Merch Sales and Founder’s day. Recently they have started doing short funny videos based on popular social media trends. They feature various discips to help announce an upcoming spirit day right before the start of the winter break. These videos have gained hundreds of likes and thousands of views from even beyond the school. Online platforms like Instagram can be a strong tool with class II tribune Josephine Lee explaining that “social media is a really effective way to reach out to other students at TBLS”. 

These social media videos have been well received by TBLS students. Anusha Haque class III believes that it is “beneficial to the school community because it encourages students to participate in fun events to showcase school spirit in a fun way!”. Matthew Vargas class III shared “I really enjoy the premise and the fact it contains modern media further attracting more people to enjoy their time at TBLS”.

Tribunes

Senators are not the only student government running for positions. A week after the senator elections, discips can run to be a tribune. There are two tribunes for every single homeroom in each grade and make up the majority of the student senate. If you choose to run, all you have to do is give a minute pitch to your homeroom and explain why you would be a great tribune. Class II tribune Ryan Chow explains “tribunes participate in a lot of behind the scenes work, organizing and preparing school events for students”. And fellow class II tribune Chloe Lam said “During the senate committee, tribunes are able to collaborate with one another and share ideas on how to improve certain aspects of our community.”

Voting

At TBLS, votes are done by ranked choice voting where preferred candidates are listed 1-5. The ballots are cast in person with pen and paper. During extended homeroom, discupili would be handed a small colored paper that will be collected at the end of the recitation. It would then be counted multiple times by the current student government and faculty with results coming out within a week.

Why student elections?

TBLS and high school in general prepare students for the real world and future. Part of that is doing their civic duty of voting in their nation’s elections and being aware of how their vote might affect the issues they see around them. Student elections largely emulate this, providing TBLS students a platform to get a glimpse into the political process and teach them the power of their vote.