Candidates for Freshman House Leader
(by House)
Aquinas House:
John Fisher
At my previous school I was selected for various leadership roles. I would be asked to introduce new students to the school. I was an Open House student representative. I was also elected into Notre Dame Academy’s inaugural National Junior Honors Society. On top of school leadership positions, I was also a captain for three seasons at my old lacrosse club. I would help teach new players our plays and introduce them to other players on the team.
I have a few ideas to increase school spirit and student involvement. First, I think it would be a great idea if the students could wear their sports shirts or jerseys every Friday. I also think it would be a good idea to incorporate sports team booths into club day for the students who missed the open house. Another idea to increase student involvement is to have intra-house competitions between families. Finally, I think it would be a good idea to have a field day where houses can compete against each other. This would greatly help in introducing new students into BT.
I think there are many house competitions that need to be added. First, we should have an all school pillow fight competition. I also think a fun competition would be to have lip sync battles between houses. Another good house competition would be to have a handball tournament. Finally, I think we should have an all school dance off.
Abbie Granson
I believe I would be agood house leader because I’m used to having a leadership role in many things. At my old school, I was voted as a class representative in 6th grade and worked my way up to becoming the Student Council Vice President 8th grade year. I was recently chosen to be one of the 2 BT JV Volleyball team captains by my teammates. I’m not afraid to meet new people and have I have friends in all groups. I’m positive and I’ll be dedicated to representing Aquinas well. I try to be the best in all things I do and I don’t like to lose… House of the Year here we come.
To encourage school spirit and student involvement, we could do either a school movie night or maybe name an athlete/ student of the week (one boy and one girl). For the movie night we could order pizza, get popcorn, etc. and decide on a movie to watch either in the area inside of the horseshoe or wherever there’s space. We can put out blankets and chairs and all get together as a community and watch a movie. Naming an athlete or student of the week will help students feel recognized for hard work and their time. It will let them know that all of their effort hasn't been unnoticed. You could carry it over into house points too; every time a student is named, the house they belong to receives a reward as well.
One of my ideas for house competitions is having a BT House Olympics. It will be like a huge field day where the members of the houses sign up for events, such as trivia, Twister with shaving cream on the dots, color fights, obstacle courses, capture the flag and other games and activities. After each event, the winners, being gold, silver, and bronze, will receive a certain number of house points. At the end of the day, the team with the most wins will get additional points and be the winners of the annual House Olympics. It will be a day of fun and will help you get to know people in your house and family outside of the classroom. Also, it will give the students more choice in deciding what they want to participate in, which is a common demand for the students.
Kristen Lenich
I play soccer for Roswell Santos. I do athletic training at BT and love to be involved within the school. I
am a really friendly person and good at communication. One thing I learned from soccer is how to be a good
leader of a team. I hope I can use those skills to help become a leader of Aquinas house and to help set a good
example for our school.
I think everyone should be involved in the school. One of the many things I love about BT is that there is
something for everyone. If I become a house leader I will listen to everyone to hear their opinions and for any
suggestions that they think will make the school a better place. I also will listen to any comments or concerns of my
fellow students because the best way to make the school a better place is to listen to the students who are the face of
the school. I love BT and will do anything to help make it a better place for us to learn and have fun!
I would suggest things everyone would enjoy so I would talk with my house and family and see if there is
something anyone would be interested in. I know everyone enjoys a little friendly competition so we could maybe
do a soccer or basketball tournament where you sign up within your house to be on a team and you play other
houses. I want to have a variety of house competitions that way everyone will want to participate. We wouldn’t do
just sports event, there would be something for everybody. I would like to learn more about my house members and
what they are interested in so there will be events that appeal to everyone.
Grace Mistretta
I have many characteristics that make me the perfect house leader. People that know me know that I am energetic, independent, and ready to take on any challenge. I have a strong sense of who I am and in my beliefs. I stand by words and actions, and work hard in all that I do. It is these characteristics that will make me an excellent house leader. I will make us stronger and more united, ready to take on the other houses in any competition that are in the future.
There are many ideas I have about encouraging school spirit. I would like to see more spirit days, to extend beyond football season; possibly design a school victory flag and fly it when the school wins a game (every sport). Some others include things such as each house creating their own chant to say at pep rallies. These are just a couple ideas that I have to encourage school spirit. I love competitions that make you challenge yourself. Some ideas that I have for house competitions are obstacle course challenges. Some more are capture the Frisbee or flag, relay races, and trust races, where one partner is blind and the other leads them. Others include scavenger hunts and softball games.I think all of these games will help bring houses closer together to complete one goal, which is winning
DANTE HOUSE:
Kayla Durthaler
I, Kayla Durthaler, believe I exemplify a good candidate for the Dante Freshman House Leader because of the characteristics I acquire. Dedication, passion, and hard work all illustrate what I put into all my activities, sports, and school work. I am involved in team environments, giving me the knowledge of how to listen effectively and build on ideas without claiming them as my own. Focus on what needs to be done and patience to get it done typify what I contribute to all activities I participate in.
School spirit illustrates an important aspect in every school, and I hope to advance ours at Blessed Trinity by promoting a school history week, thanking God for the wonderful school He gave us and activities relating to it. With school spirit we need school involvement; giving the student body a choice of activities and allowing them a voice depicts an essential aspect in any school. House points should be given to those who attend and participate in contests before or after theater productions or football games, giving students who do not have an interest in sports a chance to show what they are made of. Competitions and tournaments between houses should be in all areas: sports, art, acting, and general knowledge to give all students a chance to show their house they can help out. Ultimately, I believe I would make a good house leader because of my characteristics, ideas, and suggestions. Thank You.
Grayson Gilder
I have many great qualities that would make me a great house leader. I have been a leader all of my life through academics and athletics. In academics, I have been a leader in the classroom by making sure my fellow classmates are behaving properly, receiving great grades, and trying their hardest. Also, throughout my athletic career, I have been a leader for my various teams. I have been elected as a team captain in both football and basketball. I have especially been a great leader in football due to my strong work ethic that people look up to. In basketball, I bring a lot of energy and leadership to the team, allowing the team to play to their potential. These experiences will help me become a great house leader this year. I have many characteristics that make me a great leader such as a projecting voice, I am a very good listener, I always let my thoughts be heard by others, and I am not afraid to fight for what I believe in. These characteristics will allow me to greatly influence the rest of student government.
I have a couple of great proposals to increase student spirit and involvement. The best idea that I have is to have a short half-time competition at each of the football games. These half-time competitions will consist of various fun activities including three legged races, dizzy bat races, football throws, and eating competitions. Each house will be represented by one or two students that will be picked from the bucket of school IDs that will be collected at the beginning of each game. These students will be competing for extra house points. Hopefully, this will increase student attendance and participation at football games. In turn, this will positively influence multiple things, including the atmosphere at football games, student life, and school spirit. This idea will hopefully give us more of a home field advantage and help us dominate our opponents even more. Another house competition I will attempt to add is men’s volleyball. I really hope you consider me to be the house leader for freshmen this year.
Julia Shalhoub
The leadership experience I’ve had would make me an excellent house leader because I have been involved in many things. To start, I was a leader in Junior Beta Club, and the other leaders and I found and signed up for events for community work, made sure that everyone was on track with their service hours, and scheduled meetings. Additionally, I was the head editor for the academic section of our school’s yearbook, where I did things like set up the layout of the pages and assign people to clubs so they could interview and take pictures. For the past two seasons I have been the co-captain of my soccer team. Lastly, in sixth and seventh grade I was a student-teacher at Young Life Academy, which is basically a teacher in training. I helped with the 3 and 4 year olds by reading them stories, playing with them, and more.
To encourage school spirit and student involvement, I would have more family competitions. We could increase student involvement by a lot if we had families compete against other families more often than we already do. More competitions equal more involvement. For house competitions and tournaments, I have an idea that is along the same lines as before. We could have more competitions, and the added competitions I would suggest is a kickball tournament every month. We could keep students posted on which house is in what place after each tournament, and then the last month of school we can have the top two ranked houses have an ultimate championship game.
GORETTI HOUSE:
Fritz Holzgrefe
Thefreshman leader of Goretti must be a strong leader, a hard worker, and a dependable person. I believe I exemplify all of these much needed characteristics. A leader is a person who guides or directs a group. I served as both Secretary and Class Representative for my student council in middle school, and I have been the captain of my past three basketball teams. I look forward to continuing this leadership through high school. When I get involved in something, I give it my all. Whether it is staying up late to study for a test the next day or staying after practice to go through extra drills, I am always working hard and going the extra mile. As a result, I can be depended on to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Student involvement is key to making your high school experience go from good to great. Getting involved is such an easy way to get to know people and make new friends. I will push for student participation in athletics, fine arts and school dances. My goal as your leader is to get more people to go to football games, volleyball games, tennis matches, and all the other sports that are offered at Blessed Trinity. I also want to encourage more people to go to the art shows and plays. This will help raise school spirit and help build a stronger sense of community amongst the students and faculty. I have numerous ideas for house competitions and tournaments, starting with “BT’s Got Talent.” Each house will nominate two people from each grade, and they will all compete against each other. Another idea I have is a school-wide field day. Events could include track and field, tug-of-war, scooter races, and basketball just to name a few. I also will work with other house leaders to get these ideas and more implemented to help improve our school spirit and involvement.
Kate Macken
If elected, I will be committed as a house leader and havemany qualifications that I believe would make me a valuable addition to the team. The first would be that I have a lot of experience being a leader to groups of people. Last year, I was the President of the National Junior Honor Society at Holy Redeemer. I have also been the captain of my soccer team for the past 5 years and consistently led and motivated the group. Last year I served as Vice President of my National Charity League class which had great impact in helping me develop my leadership skills as well. I am organized, hardworking, a strong communicator and dedicated to making Goretti the best house at BT.
As a new student a BT, I have had limited time as a member of Goretti but my brother is a senior so I have had the opportunity of hearing him talk about what has motivated him to get involved over the past 4 years. I feel strongly that I would like to encourage students to be involved in the house and school community by showing their spirit. I would love to see students from freshmen to seniors supporting each other in all activities, socializing during our Wednesday meetings and outside of school as well. I have the advantage of coming in to BT knowing a lot of kids from my middle school but realize not all freshmen are in the same situation and as house leader I am committed to creating an inclusive, fun environment for everyone. I love the ping pong tournaments, spirit contests and marquee point events and would like to do more of the same on a regular basis. I would also suggest adding a service oriented contest like a house coat drive or blanket drive competition and whichever house brings in the most over a week gets to have a week of being dressed down or some other privilege like that (maybe dress down every Friday for a month). Lastly, I would like to see more fun tournaments like spikeball that everyone could get involved in.
Alexi Rozmajzl
I would love to be house leader of Goretti for many reasons. This privilege requires leadership, dedication, and responsibility, which are some of the qualities I think I possess. I play soccer for Roswell Santos, and they teach all of their players these qualities as well. Being on a soccer team, one needs to have these characteristics and be able to take control as well as be reliable. I think that being on this soccer team has allowed me to have these important traits.
To make Blessed Trinity have more spirit, I think that at every Friday football game there should be competitions for who can dress the best according to the theme. The students would then vote, and the winner would get a prize. This would encourage students to really dress up, go all out for the Blessed Trinity football games, and overall have more spirit! I personally think that the house competitions are an amazing way to get students involved. The marquee events and having house of the month really encourages to students to engage in many more student activities.In my opinion, the greater the prize, the more participation. Because of this, I think that each student from the house of the month should be able to have free cookies at lunch or even a whole lunch for free! This would motivate the students to participate more in the school events and be more excited about the house competitions.
Joseph Zimmer
As house leader, I will draw upon my past experience which includes being class representative from 6th through 8th grade. These experiences have taught me to be open to all ideas.
School spirit and student involvement is important and the freshman dance is a great start. As a freshman, I still have much to learn about BT, and I will love to make many improvements on any ideas that come up to me. The house competitions and tournaments will be very fun, and I’d like to add bubble soccer to the events, if possible.