With a new school year fully in swing, four seniors have recently been elected to the Barstow student council. Liane Bdair ‘24 and Nithin Guduputi ‘24 are Barstow’s new co-presidents, and Aidan Lawlor ‘24 and Helton Walker ‘24 are vice-president and secretary, respectively.
Many of the new Student Council members have had previous experience. “Last year, I had the privilege of being the student council vice president, working alongside Ameila and Geordie, as the co-presidents,” Bdair said.
Guduputi formerly was the junior class president, and appreciates the transition to a more widespread role: “I think it’s cooler because it encompasses the whole high school, instead of one grade specifically.”
Walker has been present as a Student Council representative for all of high school, and Lawlor was sophomore class president.
While the year is only beginning, the four seniors have already begun planning. “It’s very cool to have a group of people like the student council we have so far,” said Guduputi. “Aidan, Helton, Liane, I think we all make a very good team,” he continued.
The group has already begun having conversations about where they want the year to go. “I think we’re going to be a really good team this year, like good communication, good work ethic, and I think we’re all really wanting something to come out of this year,” said Walker.
The new members are using their past expertise to formulate a year full of memorable and fun experiences for the entire school. “One of our biggest responsibilities is planning the school dances,” Bdair said. “Usually we have a large part of the student body that doesn’t attend the dances so we really want to make those a focal point for the year.”
Dances are a huge part of the activities at Barstow, and the first dance was Friday, September 21. The Student Council prepared for the event by working alongside Kariessentes, Barstow’s student ambassadors, and Pep Club.
“Being a part of Pep Club and Karriesentes, it has been really nice to see those clubs come together and work with Student Council and work with administration to make this happen,” Bdair said.
Along with dances, the Student Council is also planning to incorporate events for holidays. Last year, Barstow students celebrated Holi, a Hindu festival of colors. The event was a success in the community, and this year the Student Council is hoping to again celebrate Holi and plan more events like it.
“The Holi event was fun last year, so doing more cultural based events like that,” said Walker. Also in the works are fun events centered around Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and other holidays.
“We’re planning on doing different things for different holidays. We really just want to make it an interactive year,” said Bdair.
The seniors this year are particularly dedicated to make this year count, as the class of 2024 missed out on many traditional aspects of their freshman year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the virus, the seniors missed out on some experiences then, and are more dedicated than ever to making this year memorable.
“We’re coming back from COVID, everything’s getting more normal. I think this is truly the first where there are no lingering effects of COVID or anything like that,” said Bdair. The students are focused on doing what they can to bring everyone together. Bdair continued, “We’re definitely going to try and be more involved and make this a really fun year that really utilizes Student Council to the best of its ability.”
Student Council is a lot of work, and this year the members are up to the challenge. With big events like The Harvest Festival and Dig Pink coming up, Barstow’s student council is having a big month. The council has already proven how committed they are. “It has been busy planning, but never boring, and we’re just really excited to make things happen,” said Bdair.
