Junior Maya Fairchild is running for student body president. She also has previous experience that she thinks makes her qualified for this job. Some of this experience is the fact that she has been in Student Council since her freshman year and she still finds so much joy in being a part of it. She is running with Kaitlyn Morgan, who is running for student body vice president. Most of their campaigning strategies are hanging posters around the school, handing out stickers, and advertising on T-shirts. They also have a video and a slogan: “Maya and Kait take the cake.”

Fairchild plans to  continue her experiences on StuCo  through her senior year. Not only is she interested in it because of the environment it creates, but she says she is interested in it because it has been a large part of her history. She enjoys the chance to make a change.

“I was in it in middle school.  I was really passionate about making a change and actively doing it instead of sitting in the backseat, so I thought it was my opportunity to make my voice heard and be active.”

Fairchild says she has accomplished a lot as an active participant of StuCo. This year, she is the current student class president.

She has worked on a social media, and she and her colleagues are launching an app, called the Five Star Student app. She is very enthusiastic  that will “increase communication with the student body. It’ll give incentives for going to games and for participating in spirit days. It’ll be an easy way for everybody to know what’s going on in school.”

Fairchild says it is “going to totally integrate voting and surveys and also point systems for next year.” 

It is also a way to help clubs get more active considering they start off small and they need a platform to expand on.

That project has been her main focus this year. But that is not her only accomplishment. StuCo has not just been  a class for her,  it has become a part of her life that she is passionate about being involved in, both in and out of class.

“I’m so active about it. I do as much in class as I do out of class, but I also do track and cross country. And I’m in Link Crew.”

Fairchild and Kaitlyn Morgan are running together although they met only this year. They become close friends because of this common interest in StuCo. They found that running together and showing that they are friends to the public could help them in the end.  

“She (Kaitlyn) just joined this year, but we found out we work really well together, we get along easy, we’re friends outside of class too and so we think that communication piece of being friends is really beneficial.”

Before this year, Fairchild had an in-class job as social secretary for StuCo. She is really excited about the opportunities this new position will bring because she has seen people who have had the responsibilities that come with it. Like them,  she is ready to help Arvada West High School in the same way. She is encouraged and inspired by the previous and present student body presidents. She had the chance to see how they have worked in StuCo in previous years, and that sparked something in her that inspired her to become the student body president. Fairchild says she does not want to be someone who stays in the back of the class keeping her voice unheard from the world; she longs for the chance to make a change.

“I’ve had a good relationship [with the previous student body presidents], and I’ve been able to watch what they do and how they do it.  I’ve just been able to learn from them.”

A student body president is someone that is chosen to represent the people and consider their ideas and make changes in order to help. He or she is a good person to have around so the students can share what they think with a peer rather than an authority. If these ideas are well thought out than it is the student body president’s job to help these ideas get carried out.

Fairchild says she is qualified for this job, especially considering her history in StuCo and she knows she has the skill and experience required for this job.

“I know people, I’m really social, and I’m active.  Also being in here [SstuCo] for three years already. I think I really know the ropes and I know who works well together. I know what needs to be done and what needs to be continued and also what needs to be changed.”

“I’m just as nervous as I am excited. I hope people appreciate what I do, and I hope I achieve in the transparency that I want between the student body and student council, but I’m also really excited to be able to be active and have a voice.”

When reflecting, Fairchild believes she   is prepared to lead the student body of 2018-2019.