Rho Kappa and Interact students run school board candidate forum
On March 15th at 6:30 p.m, Arrowhead’s Rho Kappa and Warhawk Interact students ran the school board candidate forum in the South Campus library. According to the School Board page on Arrowhead’s website, the 2023 candidates are Amy Hemmer, David Landis, Tim Langer, Garet Galster, and Christopher Farris. Only three candidates were able to attend the meeting.
Reagan Russ, a senior and member of Rho Kappa, said, “We were inspired to run the school board meeting by the fact that many Arrowhead Seniors are able to vote in the upcoming election and many of them do not know specific details about the candidates or the issues that are being pressed to the school board.”
According to Rho Kappa, the National organization is for high school juniors and seniors. It recognizes excellence in the field of Social Studies. The organization’s goal is to promote the study of Social Studies, but also to promote activities such as citizenship, appreciation of the past, and a sense of community. Students who meet the qualifications apply for their membership the spring of their sophomore or junior year. Rho Kappa has hosted events such as a Veteran’s Day Breakfast, collected Teens for Jeans where students collect jeans for the homeless youth, and promoted This Day in History which is a TV show about the history of the day.
“The event will consist of pre-determined questions submitted by current Arrowhead students via an anonymous Google Form. Rho Kappa board members carefully selected the most popular/ recurring questions that were submitted from this form in an effort to accurately represent the student body. Candidates do not know what the questions are ahead of time,” said Courtney Westron, senior and president of Rho Kappa.
According to Warkhawk Interact, the club is a high school volunteering group sponsored by Rotary International. Rotary International is a global group of 1.4 million people who see a world where people unite and take action to create long lasting change. Interact assists the local Rotary Club, which are scattered around Oconomowoc and Waukesha, with carrying out their mission to help others. The members of Warhawk Interact perform acts of service such as collecting school supplies, organizing food drives, and cleaning up parks. They learn leadership skills by planning projects, running meetings, and holding elected leadership positions. Warhawk Interact’s goal is to serve the school and community while giving members a perspective that encourages a lifelong commitment to help others.
“The meeting gives students a chance to ask their questions and educate themselves on the candidates and to better understand the current school board topics up for debate,” said Russ.
Arrowhead’s Rho Kappa and Warhawk interact got the word out about the student run meeting by putting up posters at Arrowhead, around the Hartland community as well as advertising on Arrowhead social medias like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Some issues that were addressed included the potential new phone policy, Arrowhead Budget breakdowns, and other general education questions.
“It was a good forum because all the questions were unbiased and a lot of people got a better idea of the topics,” Noelle Urban, junior and member of Rho Kappa said.