This fall, there was a major increase in Student Council applications. The hallway walls were coated with flyers promoting each candidate, and our social media feeds were flooded with campaign speeches and student policy. The traction for SCA picked up quickly, gaining the most popularity CHS has seen in years. But what was the motive? Why were students all of a sudden wanting a part in this extracurricular?
Patrick Cassidy is a senior at Charlottesville High School, and joined the Student Council Association for the first time this year. He originally ran for president with running mate Calvin Shullaw but lost in a close race to senior Hunter Scherer in the election this fall.
“Last year I was a marshal at graduation, and I saw the presidents do a speech. I basically saw them represent their whole grade,” Cassidy said. “I kind of realized how important a voice can be, and what that could do and how a good president can represent like everyone in the grade. That’s kind of what I wanted to do, not just with the speech, but with general policy.”
The senior graduating class of 2026 had six candidates for the presidential election. After the fact, Cassidy continued his participation in SCA, taking up a role as a delegate.
“I still had the same goal of why I ran for president, and I could see how even though it’s not the full power that the president has, a delegate can still use their voice and use what they understand from the general population,” Cassidy said, when asked why he still took the role as Delegate. “So I can still have as much representation as I possibly could at that point.”
Rodney Durrer and Ms. Brown are the official CHS SCA coordinators for the 2025-2026 school year. This fall, they worked to oversee campaigns, run elections, and count votes to determine the election results.
“This is the most [interest] we’ve ever seen in the 10 years I’ve been here, and I think a lot of that had to do with the way we advertised this year,” Durrer said. “One of the things we did this year was we had an interest meeting prior to summer for kids who had never done SCA. And we just kept pushing it, getting out on social media, putting out emails, making announcements. I think all of the promotion of it kind of created the excitement around it.”
Students went to great lengths for their campaigns, whether it be for president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, or communications coordinator. The sudden desire to partake in student council was for a variety of reasons: leadership opportunities, getting involved in one’s community, strengthening a college application, and planning social events such as Homecoming or Prom.
“I think being able to have a voice in what happens around here is one of the most leading factors behind that,” Durrer said. “The kids feeling like they actually have a say, and that adults are listening to them. I think we have good adults in SCA who are helping to kind of bridge that gap between administration and our student body.”
With the Homecoming Dance this weekend, the 12th grade Student Council is working tirelessly to get the school ready for Saturday night’s festivities. If you are interested in joining SCA next year, make sure to attend the interest meeting in the spring.