Whispers were passed in the hallways. Not that gossip is unusual in a high school, but this is different. These are whispers in anticipation, every senior holding their breath. How else is the class of ‘22 supposed to behave? 

This year’s Student Government candidates are two of the most popular groups in the class; Kimberly Thomas and RJ Watson on one side, Preston Malcom and Madison Phillips on the other. Thomas and Watson were the President and Vice-President of ‘22 last year, but newcomers Malcom and Phillips are confident in their campaign. Both teams have worked diligently throughout the summer break, and election day is quickly approaching. 

When asked about his preparation for the role of president, Preston relied on his Student Section experience to guide him through another leadership position. He said, “I had been told by some people in the front office that I should run for the SGA and take advantage of this opportunity,” after receiving the Student Section Twitter account. Madison Phillips added “that day we sat there and had a meeting, like we have a picture of us on my floor having our first little SGA meeting, and then we got really into it.” No campaign is without it’s struggles however, and Malcom and Phillips admit to that. Madison said “Well, teammates of ours got Covid right before the election, so all of the stuff we were planning on doing right before got put on hold. Preston and I weren’t sure if we were going to get sick or not, and now we know that we’re not, but when they first went down, we were scared that we were going to go down too. Everything we had planned just kind of stopped.”

On the other side of the campaign floor, Kimberly Thomas and RJ Watson are preparing for re-election. Kimberly wants to be president once more because she “likes being able to have my class be able to talk to me about things and feel like they can trust me.” RJ wants another year of being vice-president as the service and being an ear for his classmates “felt like it was a good outlet for me.” The team wants to make the seniors know they have very big plans for this year. Kimberly says that if she gets elected, she’s “hoping to go through with homecoming week, the homecoming parade, and the homecoming dance,” as well as bringing senior week back. RJ is focused on outreach projects, saying that on top of fun activities, “We’ll go for a canned food drive part two, and keep making differences in the community as well as making sure we have a fun year.”

Both teams are fully confident in their campaigns and visions for this senior year. After full summers of planning, it’s anyone’s game. In fact, it’s everyone’s game, as this year’s results were historic. In a surprising turn of events, Kimberly and Preston tied for president, with Madison taking the vice-president position. Say hello to your first ever co-presidents, Class of 2022!