Juniors Dawson Mesh and Henry Fears take the stage in their matching black suits and top hats, ready to persuade the study body why they are the best candidates for president and vice president.

“I’ve been wanting to wear a top hat to a dance the last two and both times my dates said ‘no’,” Mesh said. “I had the top hat, so I went out and got Henry a matching one. ”

The matching top hats were not the only aspect of their speech that got students’ attention. They started off their speech with a rap and then transitioned into their goals for Northwest.

“I think it went really well,” Fears said. “We incorporated the perfect balance of humor and seriousness; people enjoyed it, but also listened to the serious stuff.”

Mesh has attended numerous leadership camps and is ready for the challenge of being president alongside Fears.

“ to make Northwest a better place, hopefully,” Mesh said. “ have things run more smoothly in StuCo and get people to events and informed.”

Fears will spend the year being Dawson’s right hand man, helping make sure class and events run smoothly. Both want to focus on making sure people are involved not only at school, but within the community.

“Our outreach is going to be bigger than it is this year,” Fears said. “We’re going to get other classes involved more, we’re going to get underclassmen involved a lot, because we want them to feel comfortable, feel at home here at Northwest.”

This year, seniors Porter Volk and Jack Lammers have filled the role of president and vice president. For Volk, the current student body president, it is now his job to make sure Mesh and Fears are prepared to take on their new responsibility. A big part of training them is avoiding the same mistakes Volk has made this year as president.  

“That is one of the things I am most excited about,” Volk said. “I was sitting there in the room with them after we announced the results and I was just all over the place. I was like ‘Dawson, I have so many things to teach you.’ In addition to the things I did well, the advantage I have now is that I can tell Dawson the things I did wrong and we can just build  up. Even though this means my time was over, I feel like I could close this chapter of my life and I did it fairly well.”

In a room full of leaders, Volk recognized the potential in Mesh throughout the year.

“In times of desperation, he knows how to yell and he will get serious real quick,” Volk said. “He is good at having a commanding presence, people will listen to him when he talks.”

For the other president and vice president contenders, their careers in Student Council are not over yet. The rest of the executive board positions will be decided this Friday, for the people who will fill the roles of secretary, parliamentarian, publicist and treasurer.

“Even though we didn’t get to be president and vice president, we still have an impact in StuCo,” junior Sophia Clark, who ran to be vice president along with Henry Tomasic, said. “Everyone on the executive board has a say. That’s what I like about president and vice president; just because you have the title doesn’t mean you have ultimate power.”