As the 2026-2027 school year approaches, campaigns for the Big 4 senior Senate positions—Speaker, Commissioner, Treasurer, and Whip—are underway.

Speaker

The Senate speaker is in charge of communication with the student body, making them the most visible member of the Big 4. Their primary role is running Monday Morning Meetings, coordinating announcements and activities to keep meetings informational and entertaining. Additionally, the speaker manages the Senate social media accounts on Instagram and TikTok. 

This year, juniors Niyam Patel and Sofia Levine-Bosch are running for Speaker. 

Patel is running for Speaker with three years of Senate experience. He shared that after he got elected to Senate his freshman year, he immediately joined the speaker pod. “I was the only senator that knew what position or what pod they wanted to join immediately,” Patel said. “And from that moment, I started preparing for this role of the Big 4.”

Levine-Bosch hopes to bring a different perspective to the role. “I ran the past three years, and I felt like I shouldn’t give up the fourth year,” she said.

Levine-Bosch believes experience outside of Senate gives her a better understanding of how communication from Senate actually reaches the student body. “I feel like, because I haven’t been in Senate, I kind of understand that most communication from Senate kind of goes in one ear and out the other for a lot of kids, and I want to help change that. I think my perspective from outside of Senate can help do that,” she said.

Patel emphasized his long-term commitment to the role, writing in his mission statement, “From my first year in Senate, I set my sights on one goal: to serve as Senate Speaker as a senior.” He added that he wants “to ensure our student body has a Speaker who has been prepared since day one.”

Patel also pointed to his experiences working within Senate, including helping manage the Senate Instagram account, giving announcements during Morning Meetings, assisting with events such as prom, Quiz Bowl, and the Boat Regatta, as well as collaborating with the administration on proposals. “These experiences have shown me not just the visible side of leadership, but the behind-the-scenes problem-solving and resilience the role requires. I understand the sudden obstacles and challenges that come with this role because I’ve seen and handled them firsthand,” Patel wrote.

In her mission statement, Levine-Bosch emphasized the importance of connection with the student body. “I most value all the community time we are given to connect with our peers,” she wrote. “That is the energy I want to bring not just to Morning Meetings but to all outreach with the PCDS student body.” 

The two candidates’ rivalry has intensified during campaigning, particularly through campaign videos shared on social media.

Patel recently posted a video beginning with a black screen and the text, “Still don’t know who to vote for Big 4 Speaker? Make the correct choice.” The video then cuts to short clips of students wearing sunglasses with “Vote Niyam 4 Speaker” drawn on the lenses.

Levine-Bosch responded with a video inspired by a popular TikTok trend. “Niyam decided to make a very fun video for his campaign,” she said. “That’s fine, because I’m making a clap back.”

Her video begins with text saying “I don’t know who to vote for speaker,” accompanied by a high cortisol meter graphic. It then cuts to the message “Don’t stress, vote for Sofia,” with a low cortisol meter graphic, followed by clips of students holding a paper reading “SLB for Speaker” with a low cortisol meter graphic below the text. The video ends with the message, “It’s time for change. Vote Sofia for speaker!”

Commissioner

The Commissioner is responsible for crafting a vision statement that reflects the mission of Senate. Collaborating with the Upper School Administration, Parents’ Association, and other forms of Upper School student leadership, the Commissioner’s primary goal is to better the PCDS Upper School community and culture. 

Juniors Tara Ghafouri, Angel Gutierrez, and Madalyn Paltzik are running for Commissioner.

Ghafouri possesses three years of Senate experience. “I will focus on increasing transparency, cultivating a tight-knit community, and strengthening school spirit,” she wrote in her vision statement. Ghafouri intends to utilize the Senate instagram to engage the student body, whether that be through “a monthly ‘What Did Senate Do?’ segment,” frequent polls, or fun videos.

Furthermore, Ghafouri sees school spirit as a significant area for improvement. She aims to implement a DJ program during lunch, community-focused activities, and “stronger promotion of athletic games.” In her mission statement, she concluded, “My goal is a Senate that students don’t just hear about, but can see, engage with, and genuinely feel represented by throughout the year.”

Gutierrez’s candidacy is shaped by his intention of “expanding representation, strengthening campus’ spirit atmosphere, and improving shared student spaces,” according to his vision statement. He continues, “In a community built on growth and excellence, we must continue finding ways to better represent our diversity, hoist our energy, and ameliorate the systems that shape our school life.”

Drawing on previous positive experiences at PCDS, Gutierrez’s proposal includes arranging more cultural celebrations, strengthening school spirit throughout the year, and ensuring that Senate is communicative and organized. Gutierrez specifically hopes to utilize the café chalkboard and reorganize pizza sales. Ultimately, he aims to “maintain, strengthen, and refine” aspects of student life. 

Like Gutierrez, Paltzik is new to the Senate scene, but is intent on “restoring meaningful traditions, amplifying student voice, and expanding academic and college support” if elected Commissioner. She hopes to improve Senate transparency and establish a college mentorship program, in which students can benefit from a variety of resources prior to junior year.

Paltzik also seeks to bring back various PCDS traditions, such as the senior Disneyland trip and the TV in the café. “In recent years, some of our most loved traditions have disappeared or been replaced by events that students don’t fully engage with,” she explained in her vision statement. Paltzik concluded, “I hope to help create a campus culture that balances fun with purpose and ensures that every student feels heard and prepared for what comes next.”

Treasurer

The Treasurer manages money for clubs, Senate, and the student body. They are largely responsible for setting up Pizza Sales which raise money for the Senior Class Gift, as well as tracking expenses involved in senate-run events. Additionally, they are in charge of clubs and their designated budgets.

This year, juniors Reid Umar and Turner Ashby are running for the role of Treasurer.

Umar co-founded Atlys, a business that sells an electric sports water bottle. He said this  experience has built his confidence in “managing money” and “handling investments,” which will  “translate easily into [his] handling of the PCDS budget.” 

Ashby, hoping to secure a fourth year on Senate, cited his “passion” for being Treasurer, saying that he likes “being out with the pizza lines” and “communicating with clubs.”

Umar is concerned with the issue of club termination. “I think as a club leader, you should be more focused on making sure your club is fit for the people who sign up, right? That’s your whole goal: making people happy and fulfilling the reason why they signed up in the first place.” 

To manage clubs, he plans to send an email that informs the student body of upcoming club meetings. 

Meanwhile, Ashby talked about the restrictive club budget, explaining, “I feel like the budget is not being utilized very well.” He said that the budget should be distributed “not evenly, but fairly.” 

With regards to pizza sales, Ashby noted the rising sentiment among the student body to establish a two-line system. “The issue with that is that you need two school iPads, and so that would require a huge amount of budget,” he said. 

Umar also brought up the goal of working with his fellow senators to clean up the pizza line.

Whip

Junior Caden Huckelbridge, running unopposed, will serve as Whip for the 2026-2027 school year.

Huckelbridge wrote in his mission statement, “Senate Whip is the glue that holds PCDS Senate together.” To the student body, the Whip appears to be the quietest role. However, to the Senate, they are anything but quiet, as they run weekly meetings, allocate tasks, and oversee internal Senate communication. 

From a young age, Huckelbridge saw the value in amplifying student voices. At his previous school, he petitioned for a student government, but the administration vetoed it. When he came to PCDS in middle school, he continued his advocacy, and in eighth grade, he became one of the first members of The Student Voice. So when he discovered the established Upper School Senate program, he was fascinated.

Having been a Senator for the past three years, Huckelbridge has a clear vision for his final year.

He mentioned a flaw in the current Senate structure. “We’ve adopted a system of, ‘if you want to work on this, just say so,’ and it’s not very strictly enforced. So a lot of things don’t get done as fast as they possibly could, or as efficiently as they possibly could,” he said. To avoid this ambiguity, he will assign tasks to senators on a grade-by-grade basis.

In addition, Huckelbridge has noticed that most senators do not know how to write a proposal. For this reason, he will mandate that each grade’s senators draft one within the first month of the school year. “It doesn’t have to pass. It doesn’t have to be good, even,” he said. The idea is to familiarize senators with the process.

Huckelbridge’s Senate experience has not only shaped his vision but also has cultivated his leadership style. His most difficult task as a senator thus far is planning prom this year. 

“We weren’t even told to start planning prom. It was just an understood duty that junior senators have to do it. And so we just started doing it with no guidance, no advice,” he said.

Huckelbridge is sure that this challenge—locating a venue, finding a DJ, and organizing other logistics for prom—as well as having the practice of ensuring cohesion among the other senators to work toward a common goal, will set him up for a productive final year.

Voting

Polls open on Wednesday, March 11, and close on Friday, March 13. Results will come out shortly after voting closes. Click this link to vote.