The Fair Avenue school building election saw one of the candidates for student council president, Blayze Sheldon, seek a big-time endorsement. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones gave his support the seventh grader. Though the 12-year-old didn’t win, he retains an appointed spot on student council, saying he believes “I can be a good team leader.”
He wanted Jones’ endorsement because “I’ve always liked him,” but he’s also a fan of the sheriff’s cowboy hat and moustache. Sheldon said he plans to address school lunches with the council, as students he’s talked with want different options.
Eighth-grader Sam Perez was elected president, and saw the election as an opportunity to get involved “because this is my school, so why not get involved.”
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She wants to improve student life among the student population.
“I know we all struggle, we have struggles outside of school, but once we come to school, it’s different. It’s a different environment. I want them to feel more comfortable at a place where they’re at for seven hours.”
In addition to Perez being elected to president, Parker Hammond was elected to student council vice president and Jamie Matias Perez was elected to student council secretary on Nov. 8.
Garfield English teachers and first-year student council advisors Rachel Ahonen and Jennifer Dixon said kids at this age are starting to show an interest in politics, and they leaned into that interest.
“We tried to line it up as best we could with the actual election just so we could capitalize on that enthusiasm,” Ahonen said.
While they didn’t discuss politics, “we kind of flipped that discussion into something that was more Garfield-based, and turned it into a productive conversation in what they could do to improve our school,” Dixon said.
This was the first year Garfield had actual elections to three of the offices on student council: President, Vice President and Secretary. Those who didn’t win will still be on council, along with other appointees who didn’t run for an office. While the council is an advisory board to address student issues, eventually, the hope is the students impact Hamilton as a whole.
“We would love to partner with the community in some way,” Dixon said, whether that’s with a community event like Operation Pumpkin or Christkindlmarkt, or an organization like 17Strong.
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Joel Lauer, a teacher at Garfield Middle School and a Hamilton City Council member, plans to be a partner in that goal, and has invited the students to an upcoming City Council meeting.
“I hope that enthusiasm the kids had with this election spreads,” he said. “I think the enthusiasm of our young kids, of our younger generation starting to get involved at a younger age is just going to lead to positives later on.”
Garfield’s student council election can be the catalyst in creating civically minded people, and it starts with “just them getting excited,” said Garfield Principal Josh Margerum. “If they’re excited about something, they’re going to keep doing it.”
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