Following the March 12th Community Block election assembly, three new commissioners have been elected to Flintridge Prep’s 2019-2020 Student Senate. With Nick Klatsky ‘20 chosen as Commissioner of Communication and Collaboration (CCC), James Dixon ‘21 as Associate Commissioner General (ACG), and Maya Khurana ‘20 as Commissioner General (CG), Student Senate has begun the process of turning over Senate’s reigns amidst a period of notable change on Prep’s campus. The 2018-2019 Commissioner General Ryan Huntley ‘19 is optimistic. “I am very confident that Maya, James, and Nick will be excellent leaders for next year’s group,” he noted. “They all have really interesting ideas, and I think they can each bring a unique skill set to the table.”

At the election assembly which Huntley called the “most important assembly of the year,” two candidates ran for CG, two candidates ran for CCC, and five candidates ran for ACG. Senate Advisor Mr. Jamison reflected on the number of candidates this year: “We have more candidates running this year than in recent memory. I think that’s a healthy indicator of the role that Senate plays on campus, because it’s seen as accessible to anyone.”

Maya Khurana ‘20 was elected as Commissioner General (CG), and she has already assumed her responsibilities as head facilitator of Senate. Huntley described CG as “the center of all Senate operations” noting how, “the commissioner general sets the vision for the year, and everything Senate does attempts to achieve that vision.”

Khurana has already begun her work, beginning plans to “remedy the smell in the atrium” to create an OnCampus page for Senate, and to send monthly Google Surveys and updates to the student body. This is all part of her Access, Collaborate, Engage platform. In addition to these initiatives, Khurana outlined in her campaign speech that she plans to organize a second semester informal dance as well as provide food in the atrium after morning meeting.

Having been on Senate for four years, she has served under multiple Commissioner Generals. She notes that a great CG is “someone who listens to not only senators but everyone on campus, and […] has an organized plan to make Senate enjoyable for its members and useful for the student body.”

Khurana will work closely with rising junior James Dixon ‘21 who was elected as Associate Commissioner after a close runoff with Natalie Bax ‘20. As Associate Commissioner General, Dixon will oversee all club life on campus, leading Club Council, planning the Community Engagement Fair alongside SCAC, and organizing Project Light Bulb.

In his campaign speech, Dixon noted the success of clubs this past year, referencing Science Olympiad, Robotics, Mock Trial, and Speech and Debate, all of which found success at regional and state levels. James plans to “develop and expand club influence on campus” through “club rush in the fall, club rush 2.0 in the spring, and the promotion of club events and accomplishments.”

Dixon also plans to expand club funding. He explained, “Whether that be reallocating the current Senate budget or seeking out innovative ways to raise money for clubs, I, along with Senate, will be working towards that goal.”

Finally, rising senior Nick Klatsky ‘20 will serve his first and only term on Senate as Commissioner of Communication and Collaboration (CCC) in the 2019-2020 school year. While Klatsky will be responsible for the standard roles of a CCC such as running the Senate social media, organizing videos, and communicating with the administration, he plans to institute an entirely new platform for communication between Senate and the Prep community: a Reddit page. During his campaign speech, he was met with a roar of applause when he said, “The first thing that I’ll do as your CCC is set up a Prep Reddit page which will allow your ideas to come directly to Senate.”

After being elected, Klatsky affirmed that the Reddit page is his priority and will be a first order of business. “Expect it to be up and running sometime in April,” Klatsky explained. “I ran on the platform of making Senate more fun and interactive, so that will be my biggest focus. It doesn’t matter how accessible Senate is if nobody cares about getting engaged.”

The election of Khurana, Dixon, and Klatsky as Senate’s three new commissioners is only the first step toward crafting next year’s Student Senate. Class officer positions and appointed commissioner positions are yet to be chosen. “Candidates will be turning in their applications on Monday [April 1st], and voting will take place on Monday April 8th. Appointed commissioners will be chosen sometime after that, once Khurana has chosen what positions she wants them to fill.”