Running for a place in the secondary 4 student council

UPDATE: Hellooo! Guess what? I was elected two years in a row to be on the student council, became president in Secondary 5, and also got a seat on the school’s governing board. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me!!!

If you’d like to read an update on what we accomplished during Secondary 4, click here. And if you’re curious to read an overview of my high school experience, including my time on student council and my Valedictorian speech at the end of Secondary 5, click here.

P.S. At the time of writing this, I was running for a position on the student council at École Cité-des-Jeunes during Secondary 4!

As a member of the student council, I want to bring forward innovative and original projects that could genuinely make a difference. I care deeply about the environment, and I strongly believe in student rights, including the right to a happy school life, the right to speak and be heard, and the right to feel safe.

I am dynamic, ambitious, and very good at negotiation. After all, I do win the vast majority of arguments I have with my parents… hihihi… sorry not sorry.

Here is my campaign poster (ps: it’s in French… but I guess you already noticed that).

I gathered a few ideas that I thought would be good places to start:

Abolish dress code rules that hypersexualize girls. Clothes have no gender.
Time to do homework during class. After a long school day, homework takes twice as long at home than it does when our brains are at their peak, often in the morning. Because of COVID-19, we socialize less, and when homework keeps us up late, we lose time for ourselves: relaxing, spending time with family, or talking to friends.
Fridays (or a few days per month) with no uniform. With social distancing, there are fewer group activities, which reduces interaction between classes and makes self-expression more difficult.
Monthly donations to disadvantaged communities or charities. Each student could bring a small item such as toothpaste, a book, crayons, a scarf, a teddy bear, or even a drawing. Even if these gifts seem small to us, they can make a real difference for others.
Art projects using recycled or “junk” materials. This encourages awareness of waste while promoting creativity through no-waste materials.
Participation in the TED “Earth School” challenge (https://ed.ted.com/earth-school), starting in April. This would celebrate the Earth while educating us on how to better care for it.
Organize a tree-planting day, with funds raised through an “Adopt a Tree” fundraiser.
Build birdhouses to create new homes for local wildlife.
Help bees by planting flowers, funded through a honey tasting and bake sale.
Support marine life in British Columbia by donating $35 per class to https://mmrpatients.org/.
Allow phone use during indoor breaks when it’s cold or raining outside.
Allow students to bring bags and jackets to ATS workshops or classrooms.

I hope you like my ideas and the values behind them! This truly felt like a year of change, so remember: vote for me if you want to make a difference 🙂 If you have any questions, text me on my Instagram @itss.irenee . I’d be more than happy to answer!