06/05/2024
This is what my Daughter wrote to the Leadership Teacher. See the pathetic response in the comments!
Dear Mrs.Topholm,
As you know I did not get elected into office as Freshman Class President for the 2024-2025 school year. Along with my friend Taylor who did not get elected as Freshman Vice President for the 2024-2025 school year. I have thought about some things over the last 24 hours and I would just like to run them by you. I would like to mention that I am in no way trying to get in trouble, cause problems, or complain out of complete bitterness. I simply want you to understand what the election results look like from the point of view of myself and many others. I also want you to know that nobody mentioned in this email knows that I am writing this so if for some reason you take offense to this, just know that it doesn't have anything to do with them directly.
To start off, I'd like to talk about the people who were chosen to be in Leadership for the 2024-2025 school year. I understand that there were a lot of people who applied and there was very limited space. However, I can't manage to figure out how the people who did get chosen to be in Leadership got in, other than corruption. Other than those who got into office, the three people who got to be a part of Leadership are Odyn Santos, Laci Fentress, and Audrey Sanchez. I am highly aware that Odyn Santos is connected to Lowry High through his parents who both have positions working at the high school. I am not completely sure but from what I have heard, Odyn did not want to apply but was forced to by his parents. Because I am not sure if that is true or not, I won't use that against him in this particular debate. Either way, he made it into Leadership which I find quite strange considering the other options up against him are far better. I mean absolutely no offense to him but he isn't exactly Leadership material. I have Odyn in my math class and he goes to the bathroom quite often which isn't a crime but can be seen as a way to skip class. I also know that he struggles with math in that class which can lead me to assume that his grades aren't positively perfect. He is also what some would consider a "typical boy" and although I hate that term it is accurate to describe him. He can be rude and there has been an incident or two where he has casually poked fun at someone including me. It's not the biggest deal in the whole wide world but it's not Leadership material. Laci Fentress also got into Leadership which I find pretty close to insane. At one point I would consider Laci a friend but after a while I realized she is pretty annoying and now I just think of her as a peer. Laci's grades are not pretty and I know this because I have her in my third period class and she openly discusses her grades quite often. It also isn't uncommon for Laci to do things she shouldn't do and mess about even after being told not to. From having Leadership with Laci this year, I can tell you that she does not understand what it means to be in the class. She gets distracted, messes around, doesn't do her work, and hangs out with her friends rather than actually doing what needs to be done. None of that is Leadership behavior. It is quite clear that Laci did NOT get into Leadership by herself and one might consider it interesting that she somehow beat out those who truly deserve it. It is also quite interesting that Laci's older brother is your go to guy and yet again, is connected to the high school. The final Leadership member is Audrey Sanchez. I don't think it's a HUGE problem that Audrey made it into Leadership considering I know she has a couple years of experience but when you look at other students who wanted the position, she isn't at the top of most lists. It is kind of funny that Tristan (audrey's boyfriend) was chosen to be in Leadership and Audrey (tristan's girlfriend) made it into Leadership. I know that Taylor and I were beat out by our opponents by a long mile but Audrey being in Leadership while both Taylor and I stand on the sidelines is quite confusing.
The next point that I would like to make is that the people elected into office really confuse me. From the beginning, I knew that Tristan had popularity on his side however, his win did upset me considering I am better than him and deserve the role more. Especially since he can be rude and dismissive to those trying to voice their opinion to him or just in general. Preslie winning vice president was not on my radar at all. In fact, it almost seemed impossible that she had any chance at all. This is because Preslie and I were friends and I knew that she could be a good friend at times but I believed there was no way she would be able to beat out Taylor. Taylor is one of my closest friends and I don't say that she should've won because she's my friend who's awesome, I say it because she is awesome. Taylor has been in Leadership since the 4th grade and when I first started as a rookie Leadership member at the beginning of the year, I just followed her and focused on whatever she was doing. Just by looking at her you can see that she's someone who's got lots of experience and is very trustworthy no matter what. That's why we're friends and why I was cheering her on through this whole election. You mentioned grading the speeches that were recorded and when I play them back in my head, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Taylor's performance other than the fact that she was a little nervous. Preslie on the other hand mentioned having little to no experience which has me concerned that the school will be run by someone who has no idea what they are doing. It's also a bit weird that Tristan (President) is dating Audrey (Leadership Member) who is bestfriends with Preslie. I also have some information that once again, Preslie has ties to the high school through family. This isn't definitive but it follows the pattern we see throughout most of this election. Mackenzie is great but there is no doubt that Marinna will be an awesome secretary/treasurer.
You may be thinking, well if they shouldn't have been elected, then who should have? The answer to that is as clear as day. Taylor, Marinna, and I should be the President, VP, and Secretary for the 2024-2025 school year. This year was my first year in Leadership but it wasn't all the experience I have. I've moved everywhere in very short periods of time which has taught me to work with what I have and adapt quickly, I grew up with very little money which has taught me a lot about finances, I get tons and tons of awards each school year, I have nephews that have taught me responsibility and love, I played baseball with bunch of boys who liked to spit on me which gave me thick skin, I have been in every "smart kid" program you can imagine, I read hundreds of books to get hundreds of AR points and was reading at an 8th grade level in 3rd grade, I've traveled all over the world which has shown me diversity, I know how to drive which means I have plenty of awareness and intelligence, I started an Instagram account when I was 10 to raise awareness for the problems of our youth, I have always been the person to write the email or make the complaint, I was homeless at one point which has made me open up my eyes to certain problems, I am currently in Honors Society and Leadership and I do SO much work for both, my state testing scores are beyond incredible, I have been offered to study abroad over the summer by colleges like Cambridge and Oxford, and I just do so much to help others because I LOVE IT. Like I mentioned earlier, Taylor is trustworthy and has so many traits of an awesome leader. Taylor is such a fun person to talk to and she can always come up with ideas that get the job done and save the day. When working together in the past, we did the most and made school dances, spirit weeks, and even the Leadership Conference so much better than they would have been. Taylor brings energy and excitement into the room when you need it most. She knows what she's doing and she knows why she is doing it. Then of course, we have the amazing Marinna who is someone you can always relate to and have meaningful conversations with. She will sing and dance with you until there's blisters on your feet and she's loved by so very many. Each one of us deserves a role as a part of the student body and when you combine the three of us, you have an unbreakable and incredible team.
It was quite insulting to be deemed as someone who is technically a part of the team but at the same time, not at all involved. If you think I'm just trying to defend Taylor and I, you would be wrong. It kills me that there are genuinely good people including the two of us who applied to be in Leadership but were kicked to the curb because of certain people having connections. I have discussed my displeasure with multiple people who just told me that it's a part of politics. It shouldn't be that way at all and I am sick of people normalizing things that need to be fixed instead of doing something beneficial about them. My speech was AMAZING and so were my fliers and posters. The interview process for most of us candidates was awkward and not great. If teacher evaluations were actually counted into this whole ordeal, my score would be a billion times better and I'm confused as to why it wasn't.
In conclusion, Taylor, others who applied, and myself are awesome and deserve more than the scraps you are throwing at us. I have genuine concerns about what is going on with the election and Leadership in general and through looking at all the evidence, it seems like some serious corruption. I'm not trying to beg for a position or anything like that but there is a problem with the results of the election and I won't be gaslighted into thinking otherwise. I am also interested in seeing the breakdown of our results and how both Taylor and I were graded on everything because something isn't adding up. I am not expecting an immediate response to this but do know that if you try to have a conversation with me in person about this, I will bawl my eyes out again without a doubt. Thank you for listening and please take these words into consideration when doing the elections in the future so that the next girl who gets her dreams crushed can know that it's because of her own personality rather than corruption.
Thank You,
Joan Denilofs
