On Thursday 30 September 2021, GESS students elected their new Student Council President and Deputy Student President.
Laura Maurer-Stroh (E-10A) emerged successfully from the elections as the Student Council President for the academic year 2021/22 and Toan David Huynh Ngoc (G-11B) was elected to be the Deputy Student Council President.
Laura and David are both long-time GESS students: Laura joined GESS in Pre-Primary and similarly, David who has been at GESS since Kindergarten.
Laura has spent a good part of her time at GESS as a member of the Student Council Committee and her experience with previous committees inspired her to run for the Student Council presidency before embarking on her IB Diploma Programme journey next year.
I have a lot of ideas and want to generally incorporate the student voices and opinions a lot more this year. I too have a few ideas of my own which I will hopefully be able to be put forward in student council later on in the year.
Having listened closely to his classmates and friends about things they would like to see more of and things that are important to them, David is especially motivated to use his term as Deputy Student Council President to work towards more initiatives on issues like mental health in teenagers.
I knew the pandemic had affected many and I wanted to help those around me.
Laura Maurer-Stroh 
Toan David Huynh-Ngoc
Our new student council presidents shared with us that one memorable moment about running for the Student Council presidency was the creation of their campaign materials like flyers and posters and hanging them up on campus together with their classmates and friends. This experience made up for some of the stress that came with preparing for their elections.
Laura adds “Although the election was recorded, I also enjoyed giving my speech and hearing the other candidate’s ideas.”
We wanted to learn a bit more about Laura’s and David’s perspectives on their presidency and their plans for this school year and asked them a few questions. Already a well-coordinated team, they worked on their answers together. We are excited to see some of their ideas come to life over the next few months.
What makes the Student Council an important part of the GESS community?
The Student Council is the link between the students and the School Board. We want to make the opinions and voices of the students heard so that they can share and present their own ideas, and make GESS a better environment.
What are the top 3 things the Student Council hopes to achieve for the students and the school in this Academic Year?
This year, the Student Council plans to increase the number of events, as Covid-19 regulations loosen. We hope to finish previously uncompleted plans and projects from the former Student Council. Finally, we want to listen more closely to students’ requests and try our best for them to be implemented.
Tell us about the setup of the Student Council and the various committees in place to support you in achieving these goals
The Student Council consists of the current student presidents (David and Laura), the heads of the five committees (Events, Student Affairs, Tech Tree, Sports, and Green & Care), the high school and middle school captains, and the student liaison teachers.
Give us a sneak peek into some of the projects the Student Council is working on currently that you think is interesting for people to know
We will not go into too much detail but you can expect big things for the near future!
