NEW PRESIDENTS OF SAS

​Just recently, Shanghai American School Pudong held its Student Council class elections. After listening to speeches from candidates both new and old, students lined up outside of the cafeteria to cast their votes. I sat down with the stars of the recent elections, this year’s class presidents, to get to know them a little better.

Jessica Wu, Freshman Class President

Jessica Wu

Jessica was born in New Jersey. She moved to Shanghai with her family just after she finished elementary school, and she has been going to SAS Pudong ever since.
She joined STUCO because she cared about our school and she wanted to do more, both for her grade and for the rest of the student body. As class president, she holds herself to high standards. In her own words, she represents the class, and she means to do her job well. She wants to be an important link between the student council itself and the rest of the student body. If you have something important you want to say, Jessica is all-ears.
This year, Jessica is looking forward to the student council doing a better job of advocating students’ rights. They’re going to tackle a wide variety of issues, such as the recent fitness room membership requirement and the demand for textbooks to be available in the flex hall. She says the freshman class is going to take a hard look at room temperature standardization first.

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Sarah Cho, Sophomore Class President ​

Sarah Cho

Sarah has lived in Asia her whole life. She was born in Korea, but she moved to Bangkok when she was young. It wasn’t long before her family relocated to Shanghai, where she’s lived for the past eight years. She first got involved with student council at YCIS, and when she transferred to SAS, she quickly found a place among the Eagle Ambassadors. Sarah says that leadership is something that comes naturally to her, and that she couldn’t have been more excited when she was elected into SAS’s STUCO in her freshman year. She’s hoping that this year can be another great success for both her and our school.
As class president, Sarah feels responsible to address student complaints and concerns. She is the tenth grade advocate at STUCO meetings, and she will be working hard to address the needs of her classmates.
Now that the Prom Committee can take over many of STUCO’s old responsibilities, Sarah is eager to tackle more controversial issues. During the first semester of the 2015 school year, she and her colleagues will be working to publicise student rights school-wide. According to Sarah, STUCO has found that many students, especially underclassmen, are unaware of their rights and responsibilities. They have plans in the works to combat this problem.
Outside of STUCO, Sarah is working hard at furthering her academic success. During her hours of leisure, she likes to read, take walks, and listen to music.

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Ruby Zhou, Junior Class President

Ruby Zhou

Ruby was born in Shanghai, but she grew up in Vancouver. In the seventh grade, her family returned to Shanghai, and she’s been an Eagle ever since. This is Ruby’s first year as a STUCO representative, and she joined because she wants to get involved. Now that STUCO is more than an event planning committee, she’s eager to make a positive difference in our school.
This year, she wants students to know that STUCO is here to advocate for them. Ruby makes it clear that if anyone has a problem or a concern, a STUCO representative is ready to listen. Communication facilitation is the name of the game.
Ruby believes that our upperclassmen are responsible enough to exercise in the fitness room without supervision. STUCO is working to grant students access to the fitness room throughout the day. Also, Ruby believes that the new printing system is critically flawed. She and many of her peers have just recently ran into problems with the printers, and she hopes STUCO can resolve them.
Outside of STUCO, Ruby loves music. She plays both the piano and the flute, and she’d rather be listening to music than doing anything else: anything else that is, besides talking to her friends. Ruby considers herself an open and honest person. If you have a problem, she says that you can talk to her.

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Curtis Xuan, Senior Class President

Curtis Xuan

Curtis wasn’t born in Shanghai, but he’s got the next best thing. His family moved her when he was only two months old. Shanghai is more his home than anywhere else.
Since he’s lived here so long, he’s made a lot of friends, and Curtis says that’s why he got involved in STUCO. He feels that his connections within the school make him the ideal class president.
This year, he’s trying to solve issues one at a time, starting with things that his fellow seniors care about most. His ideals are in line with the rest of STUCO, so we can expect a smooth and productive year.
During his free time, Curtis plays table tennis. If you ever want to talk to Curtis, you can bet on finding him right outside of the main high school gym, by the kiosk. Besides that, Curtis also likes to game and spend quality time with his friends.

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by Jason Konold ’16, Images by Christabella Tan ’19.