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Claire Collery And Paul Engelhardt Win Lower Rep Elections

Claire Collery ’06 and Paul Engelhardt ’06 will represent the Lower class on the Phillips Academy Student Council this year after winning a majority of votes in the annual election. The pair joined candidates Daniel Bacon ’06, Tobey Duble ’06, Anna Ho ’06, Steve Kim ’06, and Catherine Wright ’06 in Kemper Auditorium Wednesday night for the final round in the race for the spot. Stressing his ability to “break the ice” and communicate with both students and faculty, Engelhardt opened his speech by hurling a bag of ice to the floor. As the laughs of his classmates subsided, he expressed his desire to “give back” to the Andover community. “I learned the important values of family and hard work [here at Andover],” Engelhardt said, “You guys are like my family.” As Lower Representative, Engelhardt hopes to introduce concession stands at athletic events and present new ideas to the Student Council. A member of the Varsity Hockey team and a Dorm Rep for Fuess House, Engelhardt hopes his leadership experience will aid him over the next few months. After winning the support of her classmates with posters promising Cadillac Escalades to her supporters, Collery was also enthusiastic about the Class of 2006 in her speech: “We rock!” she said. “I just love us.” Advocating an online system for purchasing textbooks, she promised to “get things done” on Student Council. “I will listen to any ideas and act on all the sane ones,” she said. “I’m so excited to be Lower Rep this year,” Collery said after the results were released. “I’m definitely looking forward to improving communication within our class.” Other candidates offered their respective proposals, as well. While Ho called for class picnics on the great lawn and a field day in the Cochran Sanctuary, Catherine Wright promised to improve communication with e-mails and telephone calls. Kim used the “Final Report of the Pace of Life Committee” as a guide in his speech, promising to lighten the homework load, improve the daily schedule, and prevent the shutdown of internet access between 12:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. “The issues brought up in speeches tonight are very prominent and will definitely be discussed this year,” Student Council Vice President Ali Schouten ’04 said. She added, “I look forward to hearing the opinions of the Lower class over the next year.” Upper Rep elections will take place at the close of the spring term, as opposed to in the fall, as per Student Council tradition.