At the end of the last school year, students at ILS recently elected their new SGA board for 2019-2020. On Friday, September 20th, those SGA members were officially installed by principal Sister Kim Keraitis after mass in front of the entire student body.  

Every year, ILS students have the opportunity to elect their class representatives, as well as the schools SGA executive board. The executive board consists of seniors Isabella Martinez-Moure as President, Sebastian Calonge as Vice President, Andres Marquez as Secretary and Nicole Hawley as Treasurer.

SGA is the Student Government Association that allows the voice of the students to be heard. SGA affords students the opportunity to develop leadership and communication skills while taking care of students needs, concerns, and interests. 

This year SGA has four faculty moderators Mr. Gabriel Suarez, Ms. Lexi Quintero, Mrs. Celina Sosa, and Sister Suzanne Dauwalter. Mr. Suarez is in charge of leadership, Mrs. Quintero and Mrs. Sosa are in charge of school activities, and Sister Sue is in charge of missions.

Sister Sue explains, “As our Christian duty, we are called to help. We are very blessed so therefore we have to share our blessings.”

Each class level also has two moderators that represent them. The seniors are led by Mrs. Milly Beltran and Mr. Luis de Prada, who are both part of the theology department. The junior class moderators are Ms. Lana Gonzalez, a theology teacher, and Mrs. Dalyla Rodriguez, a new English teacher this year.

The sophomores are led by Mrs. Lianne Rodriguez, of the Fine Arts department, and Mr. Nicholas Shaheen, of the theology department. The freshmen class moderators are both theology teachers, Mrs. Loretta Soulnier and Mrs. Jennifer Bonilla.

“I think the purpose of SGA is to lead each of the classes throughout the different experiences of the ILS school year,” Mrs. Sosa explained. “SGA students set the tone for the school, and it’s helpful to have a set place where all the ILS students know they can access for information.”

At ILS, students have class meetings with their SGA class board at least once a month. These meetings are to inform students about any upcoming events such as school dances, fundraisers, as well as to hear any concerns students may have whether they be about lunch, uniforms, or anything else.

The new SGA format this year is broken up into leadership, missions, and activities.

“I like the new format of SGA this year. It places under one umbrella everything that government should be: leadership, community and service,” said Mrs. Sosa. 

SGA has already announced their first event of the school year, Kickoff. Students look forward to this and it’s a good way to start off the new school year. Kickoff festivities begin on Friday September 20th as part of the Yearbook Distribution. The Kickoff Dance is on Friday night, following the home football game.

This school year is full of fun events planned by SGA, whose members work hard to make these moments the best they can possibly be. Everyone is looking forward to a new school year with the new SGA board. 

“Honestly, I am mostly looking forward to Homecoming!” said Mrs Sosa. “We have new events planned, and we are hoping to build a bridge between the classes and bring back some good old fashioned school spirit. Where’s my spirit stick?”

SGA started off the 2019-2020 school year with class meetings, and every class has had a chance do meet their new moderators. 

This new school year is off to an awesome start with the new SGA board.