2016 is an elections year in America. Vote for Hillary! Vote for Trump! Vote for Bernie! Vote for Cruz! Citizens have seen these ads all around the country, and here at Miami High, students saw something similar in the hallways of Stingtown as they voted for who would run the school.

Candidates campaigned from February 17-23 and students had the opportunity to vote the 3 following days, February 24-26.

Winners were: Pablo Iraheta (SGA President), Anthony Rattigan (SGA 1^st VP), Genesy Leiva (SGA 2^nd VP), Brianna Rodgers (Treasurer), Jessica Garcia (Corresponding secretary), John Gonzalez (Recording secretary).

Class of ’17 officers ran unopposed leading automatically to their re-election: Headly Cash (President), Kelvin Cash (Vice-President), Karina Garcia (Treasurer), Jean Manco (Secretary).

Class of ’18 President Ingrid Espinoza-Hueck and Vice-President Alvaro Espinoza-Hueck ran unopposed as well. Britney Alpizar won her 2^nd term as Treasurer while Nataly Cancio won the secretary position. Kelin Escobar (former secretary) is now the Historian.

The latest members to join the Stingaree Family, the Class of ’19, are now led by: Amanda Echeverria (President), Ismara Corea (Vice-President), Carol Banegas (Treasurer), and Enriett Leiva (Secretary.)

Running a campaign had its highs and lows. SGA’s 2016-2017 newly elected president Pablo Iraheta claims that one of the biggest hardships he had to overcome was preventing his supporters from posting social media content. “Unknown people created not one, but two, Instagram pages about my campaign,” he said. “I promptly informed SGA Advisor Ms. Puentes right away, because I didn’t want to get disqualified as one of the rules was no social media campaigning.”

SGA’s 1^st Vice-president Anthony Rattigan says his main struggle was keeping faith, believing that his campaign was going to be worth all the effort. “My cousin Tamia spoke to me about how she had lost faith as well during her pre-campaign, but she also told me how deep inside, she never stopped believing and kept trying, and in the end, it paid off and she won,” he said.

Jessica Garcia, who won the SGA’s corresponding secretary title, said that hearing her mom “nagging” about how much money she was spending was the main nightmare.

Amanda Echeverria, the now Class of 2019 president says her main challenge was overcoming her opponents’ popularity, but this didn’t discourage her. Instead it motivated her to try harder.

Other candidates claimed that their campaigns ran smoothly and without much struggle. Genesy Leiva,  SGA’s 2^nd vice-president, says that besides having to find somebody that would allow her to print more than 400 flyers, her campaign was “good and didn’t face any other disadvantages.”

Class of 2019 Vice-President Ismara Corea says, “I stayed pretty focused on what I wanted and what the position was. I faced competition, I must admit, and campaigning did put pressure on me, but of course, I overcame it.”

What others might not know is that candidates for the Miami High elections had limited budgets when it came to promoting themselves and were required to present receipts at the end of the elections in order to maintain fairness and equality. Candidates were allowed to use up to $100 of their own money to start a campaign account; however, they were also allowed to raise an additional $100 from donations, so the total they could spend was $200.

Many candidates had to spend money in order to promote themselves. Some used candy, food, soda, chips, or anything that would help them gain a vote. But the real question was where did the money to purchase all these things come from? Pablo Iraheta says he had been looking forward to these elections for a long time, so he started saving up money of his own in order to “not depend so much on his parents,” although they did contribute to his budget with a donation. At the end, his expenses came out to about $150.

Ismara Corea said that her parents and family relatives were the main source of the $120 she raised for her campaign. “I used my savings, but my parents’ aid and a donation from my uncle were really helpful,” she said. “Printing was pretty expensive.”

Amanda Echeverria said her savings played an important role in financing her campaign but her parents were “more than supportive” in helping her raise the $80 she spent, which she thinks is “relatively low” for everything she did. “It’s all about how wisely you spend the money,” she said.

However, not all candidates had it easy when it came to funding their campaign,. Jessica Garcia claims, “It was really hard for me because I wanted to do so much, but since I don’t have a job, my resources were very limited. My parents aren’t necessarily the most flexible nor the understanding type, but in the end, I’m grateful because they were the only source for the $100 I spent.”

Students who voted had hard decisions to make. “I voted for the people whose effort to win this campaign seemed sincere. I think they are the best ones to run our school and do the best for our class,” said freshman Ana Castillo.

On the other hand, sophomore Andy Rodriguez said, “I voted for whoever gave me candy or food. I think if they are capable of spending their own money just to earn somebody’s vote, it is because they really want to win and do the best in developing themselves in the position they are running for. Plus, I got to eat for free, so it was the right thing to do.”

Candidates had different reasons to run for office. Ismara Corea was motivated to run because of her love towards the school and desire to help others. She said, “I remember having to pick between Coral Gables and Miami High, and I had my life planned to go to Gables, but Miami High was too beautiful to pass on. I love the spirit of the school, and being involved would only feel right to be part of SGA.”

Pablo Iraheta says getting involved at Miami High as much as he has for the past 3 years makes him feel good, “Being a student-officer has been the best part of my high school. Not only do I get to contribute to getting the best out of my school, but also towards making the best of my generation,” he said.

Amanda Echeverria said, “Becoming class president has always been a dream of mine. Ever since I could remember, the thought of helping my class succeed just gives me satisfaction on the inside.”

Genesy Leiva said her former class advisors’ insistence to never give up and always keep pushing was her main motive to run. “I love being a leader, and being able to do it at Miami High is an amazing thing. Former advisors Ms. Gutierrez-Carrasco (sophomore class) and Mr. Portuondo  (junior class) always pushed me to never give up,” she said.

Anthony Rattigan said his main motive was to give something back to his school. “I care about and love my school so I considered contributing back to the place that has given me the best years of my life, so it was the right thing to do.”

Advisors  have high expectations for the newly elected officers, and expect them to give the best of themselves. “I expect for them to do better than other classes before, to work as hard or harder, and meet their own expectations,” said senior class advisor Ms. Rivero.

“My only expectation is for them to represent their class well, to do their best as leaders, and to work hard to make sophomore class as successful as past classes have been,” said sophomore class advisor Ms. Gutierrez-Carrasco.