The Polygon would like to congratulate Poly Prep’s new Student Body President Tae Kim-Grant. We wish him the best and look forward to his presidency for the 2020-2021 school year.

There is one more election on Monday April 20th for the Student Body Vice President. The remaining presidential candidates, Nina Ryan, Julia Schnipper, and Tessa Sutter, are all on the ballot for this election, and you can read their statements here. Shepherd Dzina and Talia Marash are also running for the position. Below are their statements for their candidacy.

Shepherd Dzina

Hi, I am Shepherd Dzina and I am running to be your next Vice president. Before I continue about how I will make Poly a better place I think it would be best if you got to know me a little. I came to Poly in ninth grade and have played baseball and hockey every year since. I am also the co-head of Christian Sports Club and in Blue Key. I’ve never been on student government which obviously gives me a better perspective on the issues plaguing Poly. I say obviously because if the current members of student government could actually gauge the things wrong with Poly, they would already be solved. I am not the only person running that has never been on student though, but I am still more qualified than they are. This is because I’ve still been an active member of the community, meeting with many members of Poly’s administration talking about Poly’s issues and creating solid relationships with them. This year though I decided that I have had enough of just sitting back and watching Poly suffer through an ever increasing list of problems. As Vice President will work tirelessly to solve as many issues as possible and make sure that everyone’s problems are addressed and solved. Some examples of the issues that I will try to tackle are getting available basketballs in the basketball courts, allowing food deliveries, allowing juniors to leave campus, getting real tissues, and lowering the levels of stress at Poly by implementing a series of stress relieving events throughout the year like student vs. faculty basketball games, a school wide dodgeball tournament, and having puppies at Poly during midterm and finals week. If you agree with any of these ideas, vote for me so we can actually accomplish them. Vote SHEPHERD for you next Vice President!

Talia Marash

Vice Presidential candidate Talia Marash has been a Poly Prep student since 6th grade. Throughout her time at Poly, she has been a part of the many diverse aspects of the Poly community such as being in the musical, taking part in the softball, volleyball and golf teams, and Blue Key. In organizing school events like IfEL Movie Night and the Fourth Grade Buddy Program, Talia has a lot of experience talking directly with community leaders, students and administration alike. In the coming school year, Talia wants to capitalize on her experience taking on issues outside of our community. Her goal is to help Poly think globally, act locally. This means attacking complicated issues that affect the world as a whole and think about how we can use our privilege and sense of community as strengths to tackle them. The Poly community can do this through outreach efforts like charities chosen by the students, and having preparation in place for hard conversations surrounding the 2020 election. But just because the community is having hard conversations, that does not mean everything has to be that serious. Talia also wants to make this year as fun as possible and work closely with the Spirit Captains to make sure every game, musical, play and out of school event is highly attended. Talia has had an amazing experience as a Poly student, and if she is elected your student body Vice President she will fight to make the year coming off of a challenging pandemic as fun and rewarding as possible taking into account the needs of the students. Reinstilling our strong sense of community, and always repping that Blue Devil Pride.

Don’t forget to vote tomorrow, Monday April 20th!