NEWS/FEATURES
Page 2
EASTSIDE
May 2015
BOE representatives give East students a voice ■ By Kaitlyn Boyle (‘17)
Eastside News/Features Editor
In order to maintain a flourishing school district, a connection must exist between the highest-ranking Board of Education officials and the student body. This bridge exists in the form of two brave high school seniors. The prestigious positions of Board of Ed. Representatives are held by one student from Cherry Hill East and one from Cherry Hill West. Each school also chooses one alternate representative. The grueling application process determines who can most effectively represent his or her student body. At the end of their junior year, applicants must fill out a packet, which a committee comprised of about fifteen teachers and students later reviews. “The application is not an easy application. It’s not just one essay,” said Adel Boyarsky (’15), Board of Ed. representative for the 2014-2015 year. “It’s multiple essays, and you really have to state your opinion on school matters, like what you would change, how you would represent the school. The main point is how could you best represent the 2,000 kids that you’re talking for, because
you’re one voice for the entire high school.” After the pool of students is narrowed, candidates must give a speech to the committee in order to prove their publicspeaking skills. The ideal representative should also be involved in multiple factions of the school in order to represent a wide variety of students. Additionally, since the position is an SGA position, officers cannot run for Board of Ed. representative. The representative works with SGA in order to gain a better idea of student needs. The senior must attend two Board of Education meetings a month: the work meeting on the second Tuesday and the action meeting on the fourth Tuesday. At every action meeting, each representative must give a three- to five- minute speech, updating the BOE members on events occurring at their respective schools and providing student opinions. “At first I was really nervous, but now it’s become very easy. The board is just really interested to hear what you have to say. They are not there to scrutinize you, and it’s really your job to represent the students so you need to make sure that you’re getting their opinions out there,” said Boyarsky.
Some speeches serve to inform the Board members about events including plays, sports teams and other club accomplishments. However, controversial topics such as contract negotiations affecting clubs or the possible cancellation of Multi-Cultural Day must also be addressed. “You have to talk about what the students want you to talk about,” said Boyarsky. The East representative meets with East Principal Dr. Lawyer Chapman once a month, as well, before presenting his or her speech to the Board of Education. Although the meetings only last around 45 minutes, preparation requires much more work. All events and opinions throughout East must be consolidated into a short Rachel Becker (‘16)/ Eastside Photo Editor speech which will effecAdel Boyarsky (‘15) and alternate Sam Amon (‘15) repretively represent all corsented the Cherry Hill East student body as the 2014ners of the school 2015 Board of Education representatives. “You have to be committed,” said Boyarsky about the responsibility. figure out what’s going on, tion between the Board of The position also prowhat they’re doing right,” Education and the student vides public speaking expesaid Boyarsky. “It lets body at both Cherry Hill rience, a necessary ability them know that they’re East and Crerry Hill West. for graduating seniors. The putting their time and These two daring students speeches made by one voice money into the right areas. must each represent apcan potentially have a large That’s what I gather from proximately 2,000 others, impact on the students and that at least.” a daunting task knowing staff in the district. The Board of Education that their short speeches “The Board of Ed. really Representatives are a crucan make great changes looks on to my speeches to cial means of communicafor their respective peers.
Preparations for twelvehour Relay begin
■ By Jenn Pacitti (‘17)
Eastside Staff
Twelve hours of walking. Food. Teams. Support for Cancer Survivors. On Saturday, June 13, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., people from Cherry Hill and Voorhees will be walking up to twelve hours around the East track in order to raise money for cancer survivors during a new event, Relay for Life. Relay for Life raises money for the American Cancer Society by coming together as a community to help celebrate survivors of cancer, along with supporting people who are currently battling the disease and remembering the ones who have passed. Each year, over four million people in over twenty countries raise much-needed funds and awareness to save lives from cancer through the Relay For Life movement. The Relay for Life Foundation is travelling around the South JerseyPhiladelphia area and has come to East, giving students the opportunity to get involved. Nikki Pejavara (’17), a student representative for Cherry Hill’s Relay for Life, felt a connection to the organization because of the people in her family who have had cancer. She found it a great opportunity to show her support by reaching out alongside the community. “When you sign up online there is an option to donate money. Each team has a goal and everyone donates…. Teams are the people you walk around the track with and you get to choose which team you are going to be on,” said Pejavara. Anyone who is interested in the event can find a way to get involved, whether it be sponsoring the event, building a team and participating, or by simply showing up throughout
the day and night to see what’s going on and show support. “As a team you could make shirts or match in a color or a themed outfit to build excitement for all the relays and ceremonies throughout the event,” said Dayna Wachman (’15), a student representative . In preparation for Relay for Life at East, a board of people from Voorhees and Cherry Hill are calling vendors to bring food trucks to the event. In addition, cancer survivors will get free lunches from Olive Garden. Anyone from the community can participate. All the money raised will help fund cancer research, education, and patient services, said Pejavara. At the actual event, there are various names for laps around the track. The initial Survivor Lap acts as a celebration for cancer survivors. Next, the Caregiver Lap honors those who have helped cancer patients. During the Opening Lap, all teams will begin their relay. While the foundation operates in other places outside of Cherry Hill, this year’s event will be the first one in Cherry Hill. The majority of preparation for this event is through word-of-mouth from the people of the community, as they spread interest about the event to everyone in the area. In other towns the Relay events have been very successful. “There have been open meetings at the school led by representatives of Relay for Life. We know as years go by, the success of the event will increase drastically,” said Wachman. “It will take time to build awareness of this amazing event. There are students along with faculty in our school that have supported a local Relay for Life and they sprouted the idea to involve Cherry Hill to bring our community together in a new way.”
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