by Thien Dinh ’26

Two weeks ago, students at Sherwood voted for the SGA and class officers for the 2024-25 school year. Beginning next semester, senior Katie Daniel will be the school’s next SGA President, with senior Peyton Williams as Vice President, George Awkard serving as secretary, and Thi Cao as treasurer. While these winners of the elections surely are excited to be involved with student government next year, many students do not know exactly what the SGA is and what it does.

The long-time sponsor of the school’s SGA is social studies teacher Katherine Jaffe, who says being on SGA or a class officer is a chance for those students to work for the changes that they want to see at Sherwood. “Sherwood is home to all types of students, and a student may want to join to make sure their voices are heard in decision-making,” said Jaffe. “Being a part of SGA helps with leadership skills, and helps students gain more confidence in public situations. With SGA, the benefits are endless. You join a community with a ton of support and you are able to lead your grade/school.”

At Sherwood, the SGA regularly meets with school administration to give input on school policies. Alongside this, they also voice student opinions to a much larger group, the Montgomery County Regional SGA, a student governing group that influences the education, work environment and funding of MCPS schools. Throughout the school year, the SGA plans events such as spirit weeks, pep rallies, school fundraisers, and most importantly, Homecoming. All of these events raise school spirit as well as improve student mental health. The SGA also keeps open a line of communication with Sherwood students through its instagram account @sherwoodsga.

“The SGA functions similarly to every MCPS high school, but there are differences such as officer positions,” explained graduating senior Elisha Gabriel, who is the current schoolwide Vice President of the SGA. “Here at Sherwood, we have a President, V.P, Secretary, and Treasurer. Some schools have other positions extra to these, such as Spirit Chair and Historian. We are extremely lucky to have Mrs. Jaffe give up one of her planning periods to have our schoolwide SGA; most schools do not have an SGA class.” Ultimately, though, it is up to each of the SGA officers to display the consistent dedication required to be the voice for Sherwood students.

In addition to the newly elected SGA officers, Sherwood’s class officers also were elected. For the next year’s Senior Class, the officers will be Jacob Feghali as President, Amanda Kraft as V.P, Melia Walz as Secretary, and Shai Klayman as Treasurer. Class officers for the next year’s Junior Class are Alanna Green as President, Norelle Carrion as V.P, Olivia Kiniry as Secretary, and Emelia Fornah as Treasurer. The officers for next year’s Sophomore Class are Andrew Fenner as President, Annah Nzomo as V.P, and Kasey Carmichael as Treasurer. As of now, there is no Secretary for the Class of 2027. Officers for next year’s Freshman Class will be determined through an election in the fall.