Eve And Zeynep for Junior Caucus

Over the past two years, the Freshman and Sophomore Caucuses have had over 60 unique members, many of whom were committed since Day 1. The loyalty and experience of these members has been pivotal to our success, but we are always looking to diversify and create an even more representative body. We will structure applications and interviews in a way that not only motivates new members to apply, but values equally the experience of a returning member with the diversity of opinions and skills of a new applicant.

As your President and Vice President our main priority will be to service the grade, and in order to do so we will continue to establish an open and informative relationship with the student body. Not only will we increase the number of regular updates that we release, but we will create a blind application process and make sure that we are on the same page with the grade’s wishes through regular polls and google forms.

As Sophomores we were able to not only fight for old traditions such as the Snowball and the Semi-Formal, but create successful new initiatives such as Boo-grams. As Juniors we would have a new set of responsibilities, such as J-Prom, Career Day, and PTC bake sales, but we will also continue events like Boo-grams and create new ones such as Movie Night and test prep sessions.

Despite our impressive building and gorgeous views, at times the drab teal walls and doors of Stuyvesant make it look a little bit like a 70’s mental institution. This winter the Sophomore Caucus painted a beautiful sunflower mural on the Sophomore Bar, and in the coming year we will look to expand this project and beautify other areas of the school! These large displays of student artwork will not only showcase the amazing talent within our student body, but will brighten everyone’s mood as they go about their day!

In the past two years we have been very successful in earning amazing sponsorships that support our dances and events. Not only have we developed relationships with local businesses such as Insomnia Cookies, Dirty Bird, Shake Shack, and the Brookfield Ice Rink, but we have found wonderful resources in the parental body and companies that give very helpful monetary donations. We have created a successful department solely for seeking out such sponsorships, and looking into next year we will use the skills we learned as well as the many connections we have developed in order to better finance J-Prom and the other events we have planned.

We understand the stress that Junior Year brings, and as your Caucus it would be our highest priority to make this year as enjoyable and successful as possible. To that measure we will work towards gaining new sponsorship opportunities for testing materials and partnerships with tutoring companies that could offer free or reduced sessions for Stuyvesant students.

We plan to continue our efforts to establish a gym free for all students who are PSAL athletes. Over the past year our team has been compiling data surrounding the number of PSAL students in gym classes, and their views on these frees. The consensus is clear: PSAL frees would provide a much needed and much appreciated extra period to rest or do work for our hard-working student athletes. Our team has attended every SLT (Student Leadership Team) meeting this year, and have brought this idea to the table many times. We also have ongoing discussions with several administrators on this point and look forward to pursuing it to the final steps in the coming year. This year, and the past few months especially, have shown this to be a viable policy change, and we are committed to seeing it through.

The school-mandated gym uniforms can be uncomfortable, itchy, and downright unattractive. For many students who can’t or don’t want to wear shorts, the only alternative are thick sweatpants. The material and style of these uniforms is not conducive to athletic activity, and the comfort of our peers is our utmost priority. For the coming year we have plans to establish approved brands/styles as a step towards greater options for all students.

Currently, once we have left the building for their frees or lunch periods, students are not allowed to reenter until five minutes before the warning bell rings. This is highly inconvenient for many students, as sit-down restaurants and cafes tend to be significantly more expensive in the Tribeca area. Although the park can be a beautiful place to eat out, during the colder months it’s simply impossible, and there is no good alternative for students who just want to buy a sandwich to eat in the cafeteria. We propose a policy that would allow students to enter twenty minutes before the warning bell, allowing them time to eat food from outside.

The cell phone policy at Stuy has historically been a point of contention in all Student Union campaigns. In addition to continuing the fight for increased locations where cell phones can be used in the building, we also plan to work towards a more reasonable policy of cell phone recovery. This would involve having students being able to volunteer (such as in a school lab) in exchange for getting confiscated phones taken away rather than requiring parents to come in, which is often highly inconvenient for many families.

Our Homeroom representative policy has been well-received despite being implemented half way through the year. In order to keep all homerooms up to date and provide a clear representative figure for the whole grade we will implement this policy in the coming year.

Our IT department is in the process of prototyping an effective Escalator Monitoring System. While it is still in its beta stages, it is fully functional and we plan to have it accessible to the whole Stuyvesant student body as soon as possible! This system provides an efficient way to keep track of what escalators are or aren’t working on any given day. This prior knowledge will help to prevent frustration and unnecessary hallway traffic on a daily basis!