As the new school year begins, new class officers are elected for each grade. Even though these leaders are important to each class, it is especially critical for seniors to have suitable class officers to guide them in their last year before graduation. Strong leaders are required during this time because seniors have an abundance of power and voice during their final year of highschool; therefore the Class of 2020 needs their voice to be represented. This 2019-2020 school year, four students decided to step up and represent the voice of their fellow classmates.

Class elections for upperclassmen were held Friday, August 30, and underclassmen elections were on Friday, September 6. Janai Blakemore was elected president, Milly Garner as vice president, Allie Collins as secretary, and DayOnna Carson as treasurer.

Blakemore is very enthusiastic about her new role. She plans to represent her fellow peers to the best of her ability. In order to represent the class, she plans to close the gap between administration and students so the principal will consider students’ ideas.

“As the class president, I plan to focus on what the needs of my class are. As seniors, we all want our last year to be exciting and memorable. I plan on being our voice so we can make that happen. I wanted to run for president because I feel like I will be able to say everything that most of us are scared to say. I want to speak up for the student body and make sure that even if we can’t get what we want, our opinions are still heard,” Blakemore stated. “Most of the time, as students, we just don’t understand why the administration makes the rules that they do, and the administrators don’t understand how we feel. I plan on listening and speaking to both sides so that we can better understand each other.”

Milly Garner has deep admiration for Central, but she wants to focus on improving little details to make it the best environment possible. She feels as though her influence can assist with her position. She plans on rewarding those who deserve it and making Central a school with a great environment.

“I have gone to Central all four years, and I’ve made great friendships with many different people. I am very active in student based activities, and I am extremely intent on giving our student body what they want. I want to improve the environment of Central, make the students happier, give more incentives for working hard, and give us more activities to do together after school,” Garner said.

Allie Collins was inspired to run by her English 12 teacher, Mr. Fletcher. She feels that she is well suited for the role since she is always on her feet and is excited to assist her fellow officers.

“My AP English teacher influenced me to run for office because taking on a position to represent my class is important to me [as well as] helping the senior class have the best last year of high school,” Collins stated. “I am a good note taker and catch on to most things that some don’t understand, so I am also here to backup my class president and vice president. I want to help our class do everything we want to do before we graduate.”

DayOnna Carson has had experience as a class officer, seeing as she was class president her junior year. She hopes the connections she has made with administration and fellow classmates will improve the influence of her role. She wants to focus on improving the senior class as a whole.

“My experience as class president my junior year has helped me understand how to go about planning an event and coordinating it through administration. I have made meaningful connections with the administration, which will facilitate materializing any projects we want to pursue. All of the senior class officers know each other well this year since we have had so many classes together. This makes me hopeful because we can all work together to fulfill our roles since we’re friends,” Carson stated. “Last year, I was always presenting ideas by myself, which didn’t help my cause. I want our senior class to stay motivated this year, as many people tend to slack off since it’s our last year. Through various incentives, I hope we can keep putting our best efforts into our work throughout the year.”

This year’s senior class officers are driven and motivated. They recognize the mistakes that have been made in the past and plan for abundant change. They do not want to settle for an average school year; they want the best for their graduating class. The officers all contain school spirit and love the close-knit environment at Central. They all plan to be the voice of both their class and the school.

“I love my school because I have never felt that I was secluded from anyone; we are all one big family. My past years at Central have been nothing but the best thanks to our administrators and everything they’ve done. Thanks to them, we will finish out our senior year in the best way possible,” Allie Collins concluded.