Gandalf, his fingers heavily adorned with gold and silver jewelry, poses sitting with two thick stacks of cash grasped by his heavily accessorized hands. Across his lap rests a skateboard which reads “Vote For Augie.” The caption of the January 27 post from the Instagram account augiestern2024 is simple: “Augie Stern for president 2024.”
With the official Student Council elections quickly approaching, one candidate has already started campaigning in earnest. On January 27, Junior Augie Stern posted his first campaign poster. By March 25, he had 20 posts. His posters have begun materializing across school grounds and in the classrooms of Bryan Beitel, Keaton Ramm, and Jessica Leonard. Brinley Halland is running as his Vice President. Stern states that he is “running for president because I want to help the school and I think it would be good for the community. I want to reinstate lunch in the pods.” He also thinks it would be nicer if the Student Council was more open to the other students in the school.
This is not the first time a president-elect has chosen to use social media as a tool for campaigning. Athalia Windham, president in the 2022-23 school year, promoted rubber ducks on Instagram. Stern is taking a page out of her book, and has received endorsements from the likes of students Charles Vermillion and Kyan Merservay.
Another Presidential candidate has also made an appearance: junior Jon Durgan. “I am hoping to make next year fun. Really fun dances, perks for seniors and other classes, and bringing back A-La-Carte. Senior parking spots would also be really fun, and could be good fundraisers,” he says. Stacey Sundling is running alongside him as Vice President.
Durgan’s campaigning strategy is a little different from Stern’s. His posters are not made by AI. Instead, he photoshopped his face onto movie posters, such as “Spiderman”, “Dune”, and “Boss Baby”. Durgan is confident in his ability to win, saying,“I would not be running if I did not think I could beat Augie. Whoever wins is going to be great- we’re both good candidates. I hope I can beat him, though.” On March 26, he created an Instagram account and received an endorsement from Otto the attendance otter.
On April 8 and 9 students will be able to vote for their top presidential picks in the cafeteria during both lunches.