Seniors and Student Council President and Vice President Tania Troper and Rajan Kaushek have two main goals for the 2025-2026 school year: school unity and greater transparency between the student council and student body.
In the past, school administrators and the student council have proposed different solutions for improving school unity. The house system, where students of all grades are sorted into four houses and compete in games, being the most prominent example. Troper and Kaushek began this year with a change that will help bring further unity to Menlo — a buddy system.
“One of our main goals is to really unite the whole school together, [and] one of the ways we’re doing that is by creating a buddy system between the freshman and the juniors and the sophomores and the seniors,” Troper said. According to Troper and Kaushek, the idea is that these buddy interactions will allow the upperclassmen to better connect with the underclassmen, a divide they feel is often seen at Menlo. Troper and Kaushek also think that this buddy system will help alleviate academic stress, improving overall readiness.
“If you’re a sophomore, and this is the first year where you’re having legitimate coursework, […] you have a senior buddy who’s been through that, who can give you tips,” Kaushek said.
Troper and Kaushek also plan to improve transparency between the student council and the student body with a series of changes: new communication platforms within student council, regular email updates to students and streamlined documentation of meetings and decisions. Troper and Kaushek said that the student council wants to make sure the community knows exactly what changes they are making. “There’s this idea where it’s like, ‘hey, we’re student council, and we make decisions.’ But, what are those decisions?” Kaushek said.
Troper and Kaushek want to build on the idea of weekly emails to students: “The goal is to make it more personalized for the students,” Kaushek said. The regular emails are intended to lay out exactly what the student council is up to, including big plans, decisions and ideas plus proposals they are considering.
“A key thing that’s going to be included is a suggestion box. So this way, if you’re a student, let’s say you don’t like how something’s being run, but you have a really good idea for it, you can literally have a direct voice,” Kaushek said.
Troper and Kaushek are also working to improve communication between student council members, and a major component of that is implementing Slack, a messaging platform often used for corporate meetings.
“I think Slack is such an important tool, [having] those communication devices where people can communicate directly,” Kaushek said.
In addition to improved communication, Troper and Kaushek have also streamlined the system for student council proposals. Junior Class Senator Eshu Vinnakota commented on how this year’s student council has changed the way they internally discuss plans. “[The forms give] opportunities for people to actually fill out a form and actually see the changes they want,” he said.
Vinnakota voiced his support for the changes that Troper and Kaushek have implemented. “I think we’re getting people more involved within the council. […] It’s a step in the right direction,” Vinnakota said.
