By Kim Mains
STAFF WRITER

As the end of the day arrives, an exciting announcement is made:  “The results of the election for the class of 2018 student council are in.  The treasurer is Kimberly Mains, secretary is Caroline DePhillips, vice president is Isabelle Souza, and the freshman class president is Kelly Kilduff.”

Shocked and speechless by not only her result, but with the result of the entire executive board, Kelly Kilduff was ready and excited to start her duties as freshman class president.  With past years of experience with student council by being a homeroom representative in the eighth grade at Kearny Middle School, she felt as though she can and will be able to handle being president this freshman year.

Kelly Kilduff is excited to begin her role as freshman class president at Immaculate Heart Academy this year.

Running for president is not an easy task, but it can be if you really want to win.  “I was really excited to be president, so it wasn’t a lot of work. It was actually fun making posters, a speech, and getting to reach out to more people to gain their trust and vote,” Kilduff said.

When it came to speech time, you could tell all of the students running were nervous about talking in front of the entire grade.  First up was the treasurer, then the two students running for secretary followed by the two running for vice president, and then finally, the two running for president.  First up was Kilduff’s opponent, then Kelly Kilduff finally took the microphone to give her speech.

As she began her speech, everyone in the cafeteria grew silent so they could carefully listen.  Kilduff brought some great points and reasons that she should be voted president.  Once it was over, the entire class of 2018 could tell that she was serious and wanted to get the job done.

Coming into IHA, Kilduff knew she wanted to run for president.  One of her main goals as president is to make the 2018 Freshman class into a big, loving, and caring family, like her own family at home.

Kilduff comes from a big family with two older sisters—one who graduated from IHA last year and another who is currently a junior at IHA, a 10-year-old brother, a mom who is one of twelve children, and a dad who is one of ten.  Since Kilduff has such a large family, she is able to get a lot of support.  Her family also gives her many leadership qualities.

“My mom has always told me since I could remember ‘be a leader not a follower’ and that really pushed me the most,”  Kilduff stated.  “Since I was elected, my mom and dad introduce me to someone as ‘freshman class president’ or [they] call me ‘pres.’ I guess you can say they are really happy and proud of me.”

When coming from a loving and funny family like hers, you can definitely tell that she will do a great job of making sure that the class of 2018 has fun throughout the year.

One of her big ideas for this year is a freshmen lock-in.  The lock-in is an event where the freshman class will be invited to spend a night at Immaculate Heart Academy. “I was trying to think of ways that would really bring our class together and form that special bond.  I know I made great friendships at sleepovers, so I thought, why not have one huge sleepover with our class,”  explained Kilduff.

Now that Kilduff is president, her first order of business is the school pep rally.  She must get everything in order for this special day.  This includes event sign-ups, decorating the freshman gym corner, figuring out a theme, and much more.

Kilduff knew when she was running that being president would be a lot of work, but she’s up for the challenge and knows she can always get help from teachers and other student council members.

Kelly Kilduff is ready to take this job head on.  “Im looking forward to making our freshman year a year to remember!”  Kilduff exclaimed.