Get To Know The Head Angels

For the past 109 years, the Head Angels have been a notorious tradition at East High School. Since the early 1920s, this student-run election has played a pivotal role in the school's culture. This election has previously been seen as an opportunity for students to elect peers that will represent them and spread school spirit. This year’s newly elected head angels, Cristina Youngquist and Declan McDonald, have been interviewed and plan to bring commitment, passion, and excitement to East.

The election process was relatively the same as it has been in past years, where students make a video and a short speech to present to the student body. Later, students filled out a Google Form to vote for student council. Cristina Youngquist notes, “It all moves very quickly and can be easy to fall behind without making the election a top priority.” The election process goes much deeper than most students would know. The process involves teacher and Dean recommendations, interviews, and even gathering 200 student signatures. Declan McDonald echoes this sentiment, saying that “the process is fun, but it is also stressful.” The biggest challenge for him came on election day; “...not a lot of us are comfortable or familiar speaking in front of large crowds… I felt like that was the main challenge for me specifically.” Despite the nerves, Cristina and Declan both embraced the challenge with confidence.

Looking forward, Cristina and Declan have set clear intentions for their goals in the 2025-2026 school year. For Cristina, it’s mainly about creating joy and inclusion for all she says, “as simple as it sounds, being able to have fun is a core value and I think we lose sight of that as busy highschoolers.” She later describes that she hopes to create a fun space where people are able to “be their authentic selves and feel valued.” Declan is mainly focused on rebuilding something that he believes East has lost; “My primary goal is to bring back the school spirit East is known for. In my opinion, since Covid the school spirit has taken a drastic hit.” Declan acknowledges that it is not a one year fix, but it is a main goal for this upcoming school year to contribute to the change for future students.

Representation of the whole student body will always be a very difficult subject for head angels to tackle as East is such a big community. Declan emphasizes the strength of the student council is in diversity saying ,“East is a very diverse place… Our job is to make sure all groups of people feel recognized and supported.” Cristina agrees stating that their goal is to “urge people from all sectors of the school to get involved… to create a collusive community, where everyone has a spotlight.” Although representation remains a difficult task for just two people to achieve, Declan and Cristina are committed to making an effort to do the best they can.

As they step into their roles, Cristina and Declan aren’t just aiming to lead, but to help East progress into the best community they can make it well while still having fun. As Cristina put it: “I’m most excited to see everyone have lots of fun together.” Declan agreed saying, “making senior year fun for everyone and hopefully making changes that last a long time after I graduate that’s what I’m most looking forward to.”

Picture by: Cristina Youngquist