As the bell sounded ending lunch on Friday, Sept. 26, CHS freshmen didn’t go to their third period classes. Instead, they made their way into the cafeteria to participate in the elections for their Freshman Class Council.

The Class of 2018’s adviser, math teacher Ellen Judge, organized the elections. The entire class was gathered to hear speeches from 13 different candidates. Each candidate presented a speech with a common theme: new beginnings at Communications.

One speech stood out from the rest of the others. Samantha LaRochelle of Middletown gave her speech wearing a banana costume, hoping to capture the attention of her classmates. LaRochelle ended her speech by asking her classmates to vote for her because “Who else would give a speech in a banana suit in front of 80 kids?”

Once the speeches had been given and the votes had been cast, the results were revealed right before fourth period ended. The Class of 2018 elected Marcos Guevara as their president, Matthew Avena as their vice president and Samantha LaRochelle, Emma Wilenta and Kyle Galvin as council members.

“I think it’s great that the candidates were really in tune to our needs as a grade,” freshman Courtney Kushnir of Colts Neck said of the election.