By: Riley Pult and Emily Davis
Throughout this school year the leadership class here at Benicia High has been hard at work planning school events and campus activities. Our spirit weeks, outdoor music, and games are all because of our student government. They work behind the scenes but these students work very hard and deserve some recognition.
First the Senior Class President, Dylan Villanueva, “oversees the Senior class and many of the senior activities that our leadership class puts on”. Villanueva says his favorite part of being president and a part of the class is that he gets to be in the know of what goes on around school, and even better, he gets to be a part of the people that put these amazing events on. He is able to help our campus by informing the senior class about the activities happening on campus and “put on a smile to make everyone happy”. He has been a part of this class for all four years of high school and started out as the freshman class president. Villanueva credits this class with teaching him “how to be a good role model, good public speaker, organized, even though everyone makes mistakes, it is on what you do next and how you learn from them.”
Next up is our Senior Class Vice President, Ilanah Ramirez. This is her “second year of doing leadership” and her “first year in the VP position”. She helps Villanueva with the senior events and covers him when needed. Ramirez brings new ideas to the campus and continues to “spread positivity” and “encouragement”. When asked her favorite thing about leadership she said: “my favorite thing about the leadership class is the people that are in the class and Mrs. Wheatie of course!” She feels being in the student government allows her to use her voice to “advocate for others and help bring people together”. Her time in leadership has taught her “to never be afraid of putting new ideas out there whether people like it or not” and to never be “intimidated to step up and take on harder tasks”.
Junior Class President, Brianna Biniak, “helps coordinate activities and spirit weeks” like Homecoming, Wellness Week, the Variety Show, and Panther Bowl. Biniak enjoys being in this class and loves “being a positive role model” to her peers. Biniak has been apart of the student government since her Freshman year when she started as Freshman Class President and plans to continue into her Senior Year. She is set to be the “ASB President” during the 2022-2023 school year. Biniak says her favorite part of being in the leadership class is “having a group of people that feel like family on campus”. She says being a part of the student government at BHS has taught her so many skills like “time management, public speaking, and how to delegate”.
For the class of 2023, the Junior Class Treasurer is Lucy Albrecht. Her job in the student government is to keep track of the “class balance and oversee every class purchase”. Like the rest of the class she helps BHS by “encouraging others to participate in school activities” while also participating in it herself. Albrecht became a part of the student leadership class her sophomore year and is going to keep up her position as treasurer as she moves to ASB treasurer next year. Albrecht says a big part of the class that she loves is “helping to plan spirit weeks” and events that she knows students will enjoy. Her two years in leadership have taught her many valuable skills, some being “problem solving skills, time management, and public speaking”.
To start the sophomore class, we have Sophomore Class President, Jinjin Gao, who’s “job in the class is to ensure that all sophomores are there (attendance) and that the sophomores in the class are doing their assigned tasks.” He has been a part of planning spirit days, rallies, homecoming, the talent show, and more. Gao’s favorite part of being in this class is working together with his classmates to plan the events and putting those events together. While it’s only his second year in the class, he plans to “go all 4 years in Student Leadership”. The position he will hold next year is ASB Vice President. Gao says this class has taught him “small things that you might not care about” but they are still essential life skills.
BHS’ Sophomore Class Treasurer is Gabe Mueller-Ramsey who works to make “BHS a better place to have fun”. The student government just recently ran for positions on next year’s council and Ramsey is set to be the Junior Class Vice President. He claims his favorite part of being in this class is “making friends” and “helping plan school events”. Overall he’s enjoyed his time so far in the class and he says it has taught him “to have fun and have a good experience in the class because you learn so much from it.”
Bella Cannon is the Freshman Class President and future Sophomore Class President. She says that a big role that these students play in being a part of this class is that they “attend all football games and events and try to promote others to attend too”. A big goal of the student government is to create events that make the school a more inclusive place. Cannon’s favorite part of being president is that she feels like she has “a say in what our school does.” Cannon says something that helps organize these events is that the class has weekly meetings where they meet and discuss what they’ll be doing for the week. This class has been very beneficial for her, as she says, “the class has taught me to speak up more and to help out our school.”
Next up for the freshman class is Lilyana Pettaway, who holds the position as Freshman Class Vice President. Pettaway says her job in class is to help out any way that she can, whether that is helping other positions when their load becomes too much or picking up the slack when our Freshman Class President is not in attendance. She helps the BHS campus by “signing up to be in certain committees and helping plan some of the great activities we have on campus.” Along with the rest of the class she attends the wonderful events that they put together. While Pettaway won’t be a part of the student government next year, she plans on “coming back Junior year and running for Junior Class President.” Her favorite part about being in this class is the people. “Everyone just has this incredible energy and work ethic that I strive to achieve. It is really just a great group of people that I am very proud to associate myself with.” Her incredible experience in this class has taught her the “value of time”. “There are many instances where time and time management is everything, when it comes to planning an event or spending your lunch helping with activities rather than being off with your friends it’s all about your time and what you chose to do with it. There is nothing in the world more valuable than time.”
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