Five students hope to be your Student Council Vice President next school year, 2025-26. Voting will be conducted IN PERSON during history classes on Thursday, June 19, in the Media Center. Only high school students, including seniors, are eligible to vote.  Send questions or comments to Mr. Figueroa at [email protected] or Mr. Weaver at [email protected].

All five candidates made a short video and were asked three questions by the Journalism Club. Below are their videos and answers to the questions, unedited:

ACE LINARES

• What makes you the best candidate for Student Council Vice President?

I know that many of you will vote for a candidate just because you are friends and is there any true harm in that? Although you might think there isn’t, I’m going to tell you there is. The position that I am going for, Vice President, isn’t an easy task, but I know that with knowledge and skills I can fulfill every requirement. You should be voting for someone who represents you and is ready to tackle issues that arise within the school. I know that I won’t tackle those issues by myself because in student council, it isn’t one person who takes charge, I would instead work viscously with my peers to solve your issues. Being that I have had the opportunity to have +3 years of work experience it has allowed me to know that I can work well with others and succeed even if there are any obstacles that arise. I have not been presented with many leadership positions but the ones I have and currently are doing has allowed me to undertake various traits that can help me fulfill this position: being responsible, being able to communicate, integrity, self-awareness, resilience, and most importantly being able to adapt to any situation. I will claim that I am perfect but I do know that I can fit the needs and wants of this position, my peers, and the entire Prep student body.

• What improvements would you bring to Prep?

My 3 main focuses include the following, pushing for half-days during AP testing, more community service hours for people outside of school, and the FS4 project. Every student in our school takes at least one AP class, whether it is by choice or not. AP, an advanced placement course,  is naturally harder than a regular class. We study for days, weeks, and sometimes even for months for the AP test so why go to class right after a 3+ hour test? Many schools go home after they have completed their test so why not us? My goal would be to bring this issue up to have it in action for the upcoming year. I know that many of us often complain because we have to go to class right after testing and even though our teacher goes easy on us all we desire is a break no? If you elect me for president I know I can bring forward early dismissals. In addition, I know that many students by their senior years often have issues because they don’t have enough community service hours. With the expansion of the service projects, students outside of the student council will no longer have to suffer with this issue. I want to implement, with the help of our student council service committee, service projects that would not only grant student council member community service hours but also to those who want to volunteer no matter the year you are in. Finally, I want to go more in depth with the FS4 project. This project would be career centered, I have come across so many seniors who don’t necessarily know what they want to do and although many teachers and counselors tell us it is ok, it wouldn’t hurt to be more prepared. I know this project seems like something juniors and seniors would attend but it isn’t, it would greatly help freshmen and sophomores as it can allow them to decide what career they want to undertake and that way take AP classes according to what will best help them in the future. You might believe it’s too soon to begin freshman year but the earlier you start the more knowledge you’ll be exposed to and therefore the more you will be prepared for not only your upcoming high school years but for college/university/trade school.

• How will you foster a community spirit at Prep?

When I go on away competitions, I see that other schools have their history of accomplishments lined up and that is something we lack. To foster a community spirit at Prep I want to have honorable mentions on walls with the purpose to create a mutual sense of support. There are various advantages to this, Many of the pictures of any extracurricular activities such as plays, competitions, dances, and service projects are taken by the video production students therefore not only would the students shown in the picture would be honored but the students who have taken the photos would be recognized for their work. In addition to honoring every student involved within this project, students would feel more proud of their school as they acknowledge all the accomplishments it has helped them achieve or will help them achieve. I believe that with this, people would actually want to stop by before leaving school to see how great their school is and how much support it has given them. These walls are meant to capture the fun and excitement this school can offer aside from the academic courses and programs which allows students to be more involved with school activities.

DULCE GIL-HERNANDEZ

• What makes you the best candidate for Student Council Vice President?

I love to be motivated and as your future Vice President all of your concerns will motivate me to bring the best to this school. I am enthusiastic, as there is never a dull moment with me. I love engaging with the school wherever I can. I am involved in many extracurricular activities, showing how much I like to put myself out there. I can’t stress enough how much I believe being involved in our school is important to me. Being a jack of all trades means I do anything and everything whether that be dance, back when I was a freshman, musicals, Student Council, NHS, and even singing the national anthem back in September. I would like to bring all of this determination and enthusiasm back into our school as it is something I strive for day to day and I am looking forward to bringing this to PREP. 

• What improvements would you bring to Prep?

Communicating with students is very important to me. Without communication, there is a lack of knowledge about what goes on around the school. I want to make our social media presence known and that starts with the Student Council Instagram account. I want to make sure that anything and everything is being reported to all students whether that be dress down days, SEL day themes and so much more. Being informed about what is going on in our school benefits the students in engaging with the school and lets them know all the opportunities they have throughout the year. Now that budget cuts are something our school is struggling with and will eventually be much more of a problem next year, fundraising should be our main focus in order to create activities, field trips, and decor for our dances, for many students to enjoy. Another way we could fundraise for our school could be bringing back pieing teachers. This would be a fun and interactive way of bringing humour into the spirit of PREP.

• How will you foster a community spirit at Prep?

My goal when I become Vice President is to have more activities throughout the year including SEL activities and more fun themes for dress down days. I also want to get approval and get trips, because we all deserve a chance to enjoy being out with friends. Our Field Day was amazing and I would love to add more activities that Student Council had brought up including getting playground parachutes, having water games, or even games. Decorating for different holidays is something that is a big deal in our school. I would love to have more of these and include more festive decorations throughout the school with even better prizes, such as dress down days for the winners or a pizza party for the winners. All of these can create a more fun and enjoyable environment for PREP, enhancing our school spirit.

ORQUIEDA COTZOMI

• What makes you the best candidate for Student Council Vice President?

What makes me the best candidate for the position of vice president would be that one; I’m a very reliable person, especially when I sign up for a service project, I make it a poritory to attend the event, because to me personally I think if i signed up for the event I should make it a priority to make the time and attend the event, unless of course something happens that doesn’t make it possible for me to attend. In addition two; I’m an incoming junior who still has 2 more years to contribute and make a difference within our Prep community. Creating a difference doesn’t occur overnight, it takes time and I have time to make our community a greater place, a place that you look forward to attending. 

• What improvements would you bring to Prep?

An improvement that I would personally like to bring to Prep would be more inclusive SEL day dress down, or any dress down in general because most of the student population don’t actually purchase the wrist bands, but many do. However even if many purchase the wrist band we should try and set apart a few days throughout the year that can be more inclusive to people who do not have the money to buy a wrist band. Us as student council try and make money for the events that we organize and take part in throughout the year, but we should also see how many students do not actually participate in dress downs because they do not have the money to buy it. 

• How will you foster a community spirit at Prep?

A way I will try and foster a community spirit at prep would be by being more interactive with the student population such as making SEL day or other events that the student population would enjoy taking part in. In these event’s I would like for them to be included in a friendly competition because a lot of students are very competitive and this can foster a good environment for the student body since the students can interact with each other in a form of competition.

JAYSON FERRUFINO-REYES

• What makes you the best candidate for Student Council Vice President?

I believe I’m the best candidate because I already have experience in the Executive Board of the Student Council and fundraising leadership. During my time in the Student Council I have learned of the responsibilities and decisions that have to be made. In that role, I’ve helped organize successful events that directly supported our student body. I care deeply about our school, and I’m not afraid to put in the effort to make things better for all students.

• What improvements would you bring to Prep?

One of my top priorities would be to make sure the programs and events that make our high school experience special are protected and improved, even while facing budget cuts. I will work closely with the fundraising committee to increase the number and success of our fundraisers, ensuring SEL days, field trips, and school events are still available to all students. Additionally, I’d push for more student input on how funds are used and which events are most important to us, so the students at PREP are able to enjoy their high school experience.

• How will you foster a community spirit at Prep?

By building a community, I would accomplish this by helping organize more student-led events that reflect our diverse interests. I also want to create more opportunities for students to collaborate across grades and clubs, so that we support one another as one unified school community. Most importantly, I would like to listen because fostering a community starts with understanding what matters to you, the students of PREP.

ASHLEY FLORES

• What makes you the best candidate for Student Council Vice President?

What makes me the best Student Council candidate would be my skills, performance, techniques, and experience working with people. I have been in Prep for 3 years now, as I have been here I can say that I have a lot of experience on how things work but right now let me tell you some of my accomplishments that I have done for our school. I am a former Co-Chair Service person who builds services activities for students in our school to join and participate in these activities. I allow my peers to participate in these actions with me by giving them a chance to put their ideas out that they would enjoy doing as an activity. An example would be making letters for veterans, elderly people, and doctors. This has impacted us on how much it can mean to those who receive these letters to inform them how much we care and how they matter to us that they are not forgotten. Adding on, an amazing service that we managed to accomplish would be having tutoring classes to help our younger students to become better and learn more. There are more other successful services that we have done such as creating an unforgettable dance party, cleaning our school, and handing out snacks for our teacher who works hard for us. I am a very dedicated person who enjoys building relationships with students that have the same desire as the rest of students, which is receiving more field trips and field days that we as students deserve after working so hard. I would like to fight for my peers by giving them a chance to balance fun and school because we all deserve a break to have some fun while learning.

• What improvements would you bring to Prep?

One of my main important goals that I would like to encourage others to help me out with is to give students who are taking the AP exam a one session day. Seeing students, friends, and peers being exhausted and overwhelmed after taking the AP exam has brought into my attention that they deserve to take the rest of the day off after an important day that we as students have studied constantly for this test to take place. It concerns me how students are going through a 3 hour session test then proceed to take classes after. Having double stress, work, and over stimulating feelings can impact a student’s daily mental health that can affect their behavior and grades. By applying more work can defeat a student’s path in trying to juggle both AP exams and school grades at the same time. This improvement can help many of us to recharge our energy for the upcoming AP exams that can possibly occur the next day. In the end I would like to fight for a one session day not only for me and my 2026 classmates but for the future classes to experience a better experience that we Juniors could’ve had and other AP students who are taking it. I would also like to improve more things such as lunch, detentions, and perhaps dress code.  We as students need to fight together to receive a one session day but I can not do this without your vote so I hope to count on your vote!

• How will you foster a community spirit at Prep?

I can foster a community spirit at Prep by encouraging students to experience more meaningful events that can take place in our school. I would like to have students communicate with me on changes that they would like to see such as new types of school lunches since most students don’t enjoy eating certain types of meals. Encouraging our student body to have more spirit weeks can be really meaningful for the students here at prep to have fun during the holiday. This would encourage our upcoming freshman to become closer with one another by spending time together at events here at school. Having game day at school can be very amusing and intriguing when we have prizes for those who like to compete and win! Other ideas would be building up a system that allows students to feel confident, supportive, and helpful with one another because we all are here for the same reason which is to graduate highschool with an eventful experience. Since I like to take people’s thoughts and opinions into consideration I would like to take rhis opportunity to participate in issues in our school that should be a compromise for future solutions. The spirit here at prep is to be energetic, smart, and optimist towards new challenges and activities.