On September 29, 2023, Emerald High School’s first-ever student government was elected. Specifically, Emerald High students cast ballots for Prasham Yadothare as president, Morgan En as vice president, Arjun Mocherla as secretary, and Wyland Kodam as treasurer for the class of 2027. The new class officers will represent and empower EHS’s student body.

The elections, led by Ms. Stimson, the student activities director for EHS, are among Emerald High’s first efforts at finding an identity for itself as the school remains situated in the Q-portables of Dublin High School. The elections were a success. During mid-September, you may have seen some posters around campus advertising the candidates for class office, all of whom were vying for either president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer. However, the process wasn’t free of complications. While the first vote on September 22 decided the secretary and treasurer, it took several more votes to finally conclude who the president and vice president were going to be.

Emerald High’s class officers (left to right) Morgan En, Arjun Mocherla, Wyland Kodam, and Prasham ​​Yadothare. (Courtesy of Siya Chhibber)

Election season began in early September, with preparations, such as meetings and making posters, leading the way to the first vote sent via email on September 22. Tie-breaker votes followed from the 25th to the 27th of September to decide who would be president and vice president. Finally, on September 29, Prasham Yadothare and Morgan En were announced to have won the majority of the votes for president and vice president, concluding the voting for ‘23-‘24.

When asked what their goal will be in office, the general consensus among the class officers was articulated well by Prasham: “to get this school up and running.” They were then asked what inspired them to run for their position. Though Wyland explained, “I want to help make everyone feel welcome,” overall, others wanted to run “just for the adventure,” as Morgan elaborated. 

The general problem most faced was with posters, specifically “poster and other campaign advertisements [being] a day late before that of…competitors,” Morgan explained. However, though Wyland and Morgan originally doubted they would win because of these difficulties, Arjun and Prasham nonetheless had confidence they would win: “I was confident that I would win if I was really motivated to do so,” Arjun explains.

Though elections have been decided for Emerald High’s new student government, what the government’s new role will be remains unclear. In the future, we can expect to see, as Prasham promised, the new class officers help build Emerald High School from the ground up. But, as of right now, we cannot clearly define the specific role the class officers will play in government since class officers work closely with class parents and the PFSO, neither of which exist yet for Emerald High School. As the year progresses, though, Emerald High will begin to find its place, and, with it, the roles of Emerald High’s class officers.