On Wednesday, February 23rd, Erie High held the Junior class president debates in the auditorium. There all the sophomores gathered to listen to the candidates speak. This year, there are 7 candidates: Riley Woodard, Charlie Meyer, Lauren Adams, Jada Kloppe, Tarik Hansson, Oliver Nguyen, and Connor Morganfield.

During the debate candidates showed a campaign video and answered questions. Here’s the rundown:

Riley Woodard – Woodard is one of those students who pushes themselves to do their best. She is involved in several advanced classes, but can still relate to students who lack motivation to do school work. She says, “I am my worst critic. I constantly push myself past my limits, and [overload] myself on honors and AP classes, and [expect] myself to get A’s all the time… A lot of times my motivation is super low. So I want you to know I understand all of you when you get that super low motivation.” Woodard believes that making connections is an important part of Erie, and will be something she plans to build upon as well, “I think that Erie’s greatest strength is that the entire community is so close knit… So we all know each other and we bring that connection together.”

Charlie Meyer – Meyer believes that the greatest strength of Erie High is the students. He says, “I’d like to say Erie High school’s greatest strength is all of you guys. Maybe we’re not all friends. Maybe not all of us get along, but I think that we all kind of have a general respect for each other. I’m just really proud of that.” If he does get elected, Meyers claims that he will do his best even if he doesn’t know what to do, “If I do get elected, I’ll do my best to not know what I’m doing the best. So if you don’t know who any of these people are, and when the vote  happens and you don’t know who to vote for, just click the little button that says Charlie Meyer. I promise I won’t let you down.” 

Lauren Adams – Adams was inspired by her mother to run for president this year, according to her, “ My biggest hero is also my mom… My mom is a very inspirational person, especially to me… She’s taught me that change can be made, but you just have to be willing to put yourself out there, and you have to just try new things. That is why I came out here and decided to give it a go, and not be afraid of rejection, and just be willing to keep trying.” One of Adam’s goals, if she is elected president, is to make the next school year as fun as possible, she says, “I love to have a good time. I know our junior year is going to be a pretty stressful one. A lot of us are taking a lot of AP classes and are starting to think about college. One thing I want to do is make sure our junior year is a super fun one, and that we are able to come together and have a good time.” 

Jada Kloppe – This year was Kloppe’s first year at Erie high school. She, like Adams, wants to create a more fun environment for students, “Clearly we all had a pretty rough past few years with Covid… [so] I want to include more activities that everybody can come to, and just have fun with each other.” Because of the type of person she is, she plans on making sure student’s ideas are listened to, “I’m also a very approachable person, so if anybody has an idea… you can always come up to me and voice your opinion, because I just want to make sure everybody is heard.” For her, one of Erie’s greatest strengths is, “…definitely how welcoming everybody was. This year I was a new student, and I remember coming to my classes just super nervous because not knowing anyone is just nerve wracking.” She plans on building upon that strength if she is elected, “I can improve upon that is just to make sure that we’re reaching out to everybody, leading by example, and… just being kind to somebody

Tarik Hansson – Hansson is a skateboarder, but he does not want to have fun as an elected official,  he wants to work hard for the class of 2024, “ [I] love to skate… I don’t like to have fun, I like to be on that grind… But every now and then just remember, I am here for you guys and I try [to] put your needs first.” He also adds that, “if you need anything just don’t be afraid to reach out.” He believes that the best thing about Erie is that the students are winners, “I think Erie’s biggest strength is that we’re winners. I remember when we were… down on that football game, we came back. We came back strong. Then we went to state, we didn’t win state but that’s okay. We’ve always got next year. But we are winners.” 

Oliver Nguyen – Nguyen, like Erie’s principal, believes, “… our greatest strength is that we are the best kids in America.” As such, he wants to make the class of 2024’s junior year a good time, “I want to have fun, and I know our junior year is going to be really stressful: applying to a bunch of colleges, [and] taking the SAT. But there’s no way we can really hustle like Tarik wants without fun, which he doesn’t want,” He adds that, “It makes me really happy to see us all back here after the last year being so depressing and sad.”

Connor Morganfield – Morganfield already has experience with leadership, and working to get things done, as he is the founder of Erie’s Esports club. He believes that students should be able to achieve their goals, he says, “I really think that if you have a passion, or anything that you want to do, you should be able to start a club for that at our school, and be accepted.” What inspired him to go into leadership is his older brother, “My biggest leader was my older brother. He told me a lot about the classes and pathways for my future, and helped me a lot to become a better peer.”