SYErr1A8

1PLANS
2Ask the general interview questions
3Then, ask specific elaboration questions based on responses and application
4Have applications open during interview for cross-reference
5Don’t make it awkward, be nice
6First question should be “tell us a little bit about yourself.”
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8ABBY
9How are you? | Good, how are you?
10Introductions in gavel order ensue. President introduces Secretary, who is silently lurking and writing everything down.
11Tell us a little bit about yourself. | Senior in high school in the middle of nowhere, in Latin club, band, choir… More about Latin club: Voluntary, not mandatory, and kind of loose, but she’s trying to change it by updating the Constitution and making it official. Her Latin program may be disappearing.
12Why did you apply? | Enthusiastic, loves helping out, capable in social media, wants to be a voice for central/southern IL.
13Have you used Wix? | No. Willing to learn, but no web design experience.
14Social media experience | Latin club Facebook page (that we can’t see, because it’s private), personal social media
15Ideas for the website | It looks pretty good, but make the Constitution more readable and mobile-friendly.
16Seen site recently? | At least 1 week ago.
17Outreach? | Get a list of addresses for non-Chicago-centered teachers, get more southern states, give posters to teachers to hang up to get students interested.
18At-large delegations? | Get some sort of form to distinguish them as at-large schools rather than lumping them as a single school.
19Can you make it to monthly meetings? | No. Once or twice, max. It’s a four-hour drive.
20Joint meetings are important for Convention. Can you make those? | Probably at least one.
21How will she PR Fall Festivus? | She doesn’t know what it is. Once she learns: Post about it on social media. Email chapters and inform them.
22What weighs more, 5 tons of bricks or 5 tons of feathers? | 5 tons of bricks.
23If you were born on this day five years ago, how old would you be today? | Five.
24Favorite ILJCL memory?  | Freshman year, going with friends and meeting other schools in the atrium.
25Were you aware of the southern border of ILJCL-North? | No. We should change that.
26ILJCL-South? | Very different from ILJCL-North. Mostly adult-run; there’s a student board, but she’s not on it.
27How would you bridge the gap between teachers and students over Convention planning? | Logical reasoning, and reminding them that the convention’s for students.
28Familiar with NJCL?  | A little bit. Hasn’t attended.
29Big changes to the website for the Website Competition? | Stated same as above: looks Most excited about: | Outreach.
30Before we end, anything else you’d like to add? | No. Question: what are the rules of IJCL board members in regards to helping their students from their schools with spirit, since they’re part of judging? | If you’re on the board, you can’t really help out with spirit. You can know what they’re doing but can’t create or help create anything. Distance yourself from spirit. You can’t help them come up with ideas. | Good to know. | When you’re on the board, you don’t judge your own school. If you’re a small school, you’d be judging bigger schools and vice versa.
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32THOUGHTS
33Good ideas! But wasn’t prepared (didn’t look at website in the past week). Likes IJCL but doesn’t have much experience coming in. Humi: Didn’t have fundamental knowledge like Fall Festivus, and considering we do PR on all our social media she should’ve seen it. It was shocking that she hadn’t heard of it. Aleah: Not that big a deal, we don’t have a MASSIVE turnout. We had 6 schools come last year. 
34When we were at Barrington, a lot more small schools came. It’s not big big, but it’s been all over our social media.
35The only things she knows are what her Latin teacher, which is a bit out of the loop, has told her. Fall Festivus is so far away from that school that she shouldn’t be blamed for not knowing about it.
36Debate continues: should she have known about Fall Festivus? On one hand, she had plenty of opportunities to know and should’ve done more research before applying to join the board. On the other hand, she’s so far away from Festivus that she shouldn’t be blamed for not knowing about it.
37Also: she can’t come to in-person board meetings, and the First VP is a very important position she should be able to attend meetings for.
38We will have to deal with the adults again this year.
39
40NIRA
41Introduction: Very excited to be here!
42Tell us a little bit about yourself. | Junior at Elgin Academy, involved in tons of clubs. Plays volleyball, basketball, and soccer. Does a lot of community service because it defines her. First entered ILJCL in seventh grade. The people there are great and amazing and ILJCL is beyond description.
43Why did you apply? | IJCL is a really great platform for the promotion of classics. Wants to promote it both to classics students and promote it to those who don’t know what they’re about: promote it to the greater community and let the world know that the classics are a thing we appreciate and love. Get more people involved.
44What has been your involvement with the IJCL? | Been to three state conventions, has been playing certamen, doing academic tests. Hasn’t been able to go to Nationals. Would really love to go and enjoy it.
45Have you used Wix? | Yes. Always uses it for projects so she can be creative, and has used it for a ton of club promotion websites.
46Have you seen the IJCL website recently? | Been exploring its organization recently. Familiar with Wix, coding, updating… it’ll be very good for her to handle and update.
47Any new ideas for it? | Make it more accessible to people who don’t know about IJCL. It’s fine as it is, but have more people that are less involved know about it.
48How would you implement that? | Biggest platform would be social media, but also email newspapers and other schools to promote the website. Aleah did a really amazing job with how the website is now. It’s more about promoting it.
49How would you handle outreach? | In terms of membership, we really need more other small schools to be more involved. Through getting to know athletes, she’s learned that they have Latin programs that don’t know about IJCL. Reach out to these schools that don’t know about it, and individual students that take Latin at home and don’t know how to connect to other Latin students.
50Can she make monthly in-person meetings? | Of course! Commitment and time management is something she’s learned through her involvement in clubs, so she would love to make these meetings.
51In which clubs are you a leader? | Leader of Model UN, on Student Council, part of Latin Club, the newspaper, two service clubs, and the senior outreach member of Scholastic Bowl and another academic team.
52How would you manage your time between these clubs and IJCL? | They’re within school, IJCL isn’t. She can already juggle those clubs and can be consistent and available. Time wouldn’t be a problem, especially since IJCL would be a huge priority.
53What weighs more? Five tons of bricks, or five tons of feathers. | Five tons of bricks
54If you were born five years ago on this day, how old would you be now? | Eleven(?).
55Favorite IJCL memory? | Connecting with new people. Learning social/conversational/friendship skills from connecting to people over the classics.
56What ideas would you bring to the table? | More events! Doesn’t matter if they’re smaller or bigger, but get more people involved and get them interested! Anything involving the classics creatively, academically… 
57Fall Festivus is coming up. Do you know about it? | Yeah. She’s been to it and loves it. Really excited!
58How would you promote Fall Festivus? | Game plan: start off with the website and social media, then individually email schools and notify them. Create fliers to promote it (she’s good at that).
59What is your Hogwarts house? | Slytherin.
60You’re on a lot of different sports. Do you think you have enough time in your week to do your duty? | Of course. Having grown up with all these sports and dancing and clubs, she knows how to balance her commitments.
61What dance are you part of? | Bollywood dance and various other Indian dances.
62Elgin Academy always brings a lot of people, but recently it’s dropped in numbers. How can you bring that number back up in your own delegation? | It dropped because of a change in the Latin department upsetting and confusing people. She wants to remind them that that’s not the point, the point is to go and love the classics together. The starting Latin club mandates going to IJCL and the certamen events and will hopefully raise interest.
63At Convention planning, the adult and student boards must work together. How would you bridge the gap? | Has experience being a youth member and working with main committees. It’s hard trying to plan with adult boards, but make sacrifices and be calm except when you really feel something’s important. Then, be firm. Otherwise, be calm and patient because they’re going through the same stress and struggles as you. Get through it. 
64Have you seen our social media? | Gone through it. It’s good, but we can do better.
65How? | Create more ads. Really promote it through ads and show people what we’re doing.
66Ads tend to cost money. Do you know any way to alleviate that cost? | Works with people that help with that. She has contacts and connections in the ad business that can lower or remove prices.
67If elected First VP, you’d only be FVP until IJCL. Would you run for reelection? | Either way, she plans to run for First VP again during Convention proper.
68How would you involve your community? | Go directly to the students. Going to the teacher is great, but you have to connect with the students: she’ll be organizing student fairs and really promoting our clubs to people in the community. Show people how fun it is.
69What’s a fair? | Set up a booth in one of those community centers or anywhere and try to promote what our ideals are to passerby. Have it at public affairs where you get people enticed to come and join. Small booths that promote who we are.
70IJCL is an organization under the NJCL umbrella. Are you familiar with the JCL? | Yes. She wants to- and will- go to a National convention someday.
71Do you know about the Website Contest? | Not really. Familiar with it from people who went to Nationals discussing it. Idea: get out of Wix and make our own website.
72Why leave Wix? | Wix is a different company. She doesn’t like being dependent on other companies. Without Wix, we can be independent and unique without relying on them.
73What would you use? | Code.
74How would you teach other First VPs how to maintain it? | Has a programmer she knows who can help. Her job would be to set this up and the other First VPs would have to maintain it. No coding required, just updating it, like Wix. She could set it up. They wouldn’t even need coding experience.
75How did you get to this point of being so involved in everything? | First started web design and social media in 6th grade, for an organization that needed young tech-savvy kids for promotion. Developed skills in her school’s computer department and now knows a wide variety of languages and computer science skills.
76Any last thoughts? | We’re great, IJCL’s great, everything’s great.
77Would you be able to host meetings? | Yes.
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79THOUGHTS
80Impressive! She was sweet, and dedicated, and had a really great portfolio. 
81She does so many sports because they’re mandatory at Elgin Academy.
82One thing to be hesitant about: making an entirely new website. It will be much harder to maintain and we’ve already spent a lot of money on it. 
83We can get Facebook ads for free?
84She’s very confident.
85SAM
86Tell us a little bit about yourself. | Name is Sam. Has been taking Latin since second grade. Been to three state conventions, two national conventions. Always been interested in Latin. Wants to make it a bigger part of his life.
87Why did you apply? | Always been interested in getting more people to join. Always wanted to bring more people in. Has been doing Latin stuff for a while and sees that when people are in a closer Latin environment they’re more likely to stay with Latin past high school. Wants to encourage consistency and prolonged interest,  so it’s a more fun experience for everyone.
88It seems you’re really into outreach, but another important part of the job is social media and the website. Have you used Wix before? | Yes. Made a website a few years back, then got back on more recently to practice for the position. Found it pretty easy. Nothing too extensive, but he’s familiar with it. Needs a little more practice for any expert-level stuff.
89Going back to outreach, how would you handle outreach beyond WY? | Would like to have more of a year-round presence. Remind people that it exists all year to make them interested and more likely to come back. Wants to make a guidebook for expanding school Latin programs and organizing them, so they’re organized enough to come to our events.
90What would you put in the guidebook? | looking for ways to increase certamen membership and get the program to a higher level. In WY certamen, he’s been organizing and consistency-izing WY’s certamen program. He wants to help organize chapters. Not an expert, doesn’t know a ton about specifics, but has the idea.
91Being on the board, can he commit one day a month to a board meeting? | Absolutely. Can’t do it every day, but can make set days.
92Would this be Skype or in-person? | Depends on the month, but we prefer meeting in-person. During the school year, we mostly get together in-person. | That should be fine.
93Would you have enough time in your week to dedicate to IJCL duties? | Thinks he should. He does clubs, but they end fast enough that he’ll be able to get home and prepare stuff.
94What do you do outside of school and in school clubs? | Participates in WY Company, his school’s theater program, on the production team. Leadership comes from organizing the crews and assigning people to their crews. That takes up most of his extracurricular time.
95Tell us more about Latin club at your school and your role. | WY just has certamen, and it hasn’t been very organized in the past, so he wants to make sure this year that everyone knows what’s going on and coordinate. He doesn’t know if he’ll be on the certamen team this year, but he wants to help organize it.
96What weighs more? Five tons of bricks or five tons of feathers? | They both weigh five tons.
97If you were born five years ago on this day, how old would you be today? | 5.
98What Hogwarts house are you in? | Ravenclaw. He was in a Hogwarts club in fifth grade as a Ravenclaw prefect.
99What’s your favorite JCL memory at a state convention? | Every convention, our delegation makes human tables and we break the record every year.
100First VP does a lot of social media advertising. How comfortable are you managing an Instagram, a Snapchat, and a Facebook? How can you get us out there? | Uses all three of those platforms, and believes it’s important to reach out to people on those platforms. If we see people following related JCL pages, follow them first and reach out to specifically those users who are active in the JCL social media community but not our pages.
101Will I have to take the pictures? | No. You’ll be working closely with our historian who will provide pictures. Also, you should be making flyers and digital posters for upcoming events.
102How well versed are you in digital posters? | Generally he uses Google Drawings, but knows how to move stuff around and put it together. He can figure out different software if necessary.
103What would you do to improve our website? | He’d put resources like the guidebook on it. Make it feel a little more polished where there’s bare links and stuff. Make everything easier to find so people interested in reaching out to us can do so. Give ways to get in contact with us, and ways to announce events and reach out. Make announcements more featured so people see it on the website. Link to the website on social media so we can use the website more than social media.
104You’re a junior, right? | He’s a sophomore.
105What are you going to do after AP Latin? | Take another language, maybe French? Wants to keep up his Latin.
106Would you plan on running for reelection or another office? | Definitely would be interested. Not sure how the process works, but would be interested in doing it. 
107One of the biggest things we do this year is State Convention. The adult and student boards often clash on certain things, so how will you bridge the gap between the boards’ ideas? | Explaining our position to them, since we have different goals: we’re all about the students and general fun, while the adults are very focused on logistics and making things work. Explain why we’re thinking of doing our ideas so it’s not an idea out of nowhere. Let the adults take us seriously in our ideas. 
108Are you familiar with Fall Festivus? How would you publicize it more? | Yes, he’s been a few times. He’d like to email statements to Latin teachers and leaders of Latin clubs (whoever would be able to relay it via class settings). It’s one thing to see it on social media, and an entirely other thing to hear about it in class when you’ve never heard of JCL before. This way could get many more people interested.
109Is there anything else about your leadership or ideas, or any questions, that you want to ask or relay to us? | Other than upkeep of social media and the website, are there other daily duties? | Working on your guidebook. Also, it’s a lot of work because you have to keep tabs on different areas and different Latin teachers and outreach, like sending flyers and pamphlets, finding information, emailing… it’s different depending on the time of year, and becomes much more intensive before big events, but you should set aside some time every day or every few days for JCL duties. There’s always something to do.
110Are you familiar with the NJCL contests? Would you be able to update the website regularly for the Website Contest? | Yes.
111Why do you dress so well? | He dresses how he wants.
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116Madeline: NIRA has a lot of experience, would be okay with putting herself out there, and seemed like the type of person that could take it well if we told her not to redo the website. She’s confident and qualified.
117Matteo: picked NIRA because her application was very strong and her social media was very strong. She has tons of experience in communication and broadcasting, and really liked her personality and how professional and kind she was. She was polite and nailed the little things. She sat next to him on the bus. She has more experience than Sam.
118Blake: picked SAM because what Aleah and Humi said.
119Sahithi: picked NIRA because she really impressed her with her application. Sam doesn’t have as much experience, and declining Sam wouldn’t be as bad since he has more time. In a crunch time experience, we need someone all ready to go and get working rather than someone with untapped potential who needs help and a bit of starting time to get his feet off the ground and get going. Nira is more capable of making posters and running the social media during crunch time.
120Aleah: picked SAM because although Nira’s application is really extensive she’s really busy and part of several national organizations she won’t be able to split up for JCL. She doesn’t want to overwhelm her between the most important year of high school and her ambitious goals and many clubs. She doesn’t have enough time in office to implement her plans, and Sam has better, more short-term ideas that took inspiration from the National First VP Workshop. He has a better idea of what the board does and how the JCL works because he’s gone to Nationals and done the research and been so involved that he would be a better addition to the Board.
121Humi: picked SAM, even though Nira has really good ideas and is really dedicated and she reminds her of herself. She’s learned that some big ideas just aren’t feasible. We’re a medium state and there’s things we won’t be able to do. For the five months that we need a First VP, Sam would be a better fit because we need someone focused on short-term goals and able to talk to other schools about IJCL and Fall Festivus. She’s not saying she doesn’t like Nira, but something about Sam speaks to her more and like Aleah believes that Sam understands the board’s role more than Nira. He’d be a better choice for the short term, and she’s sticking to her position. With Nira, we might burden her with too much work during crunch time and she’s scared we could burn Nira out during the five months. If and when she runs, she’ll have a full year to accomplish all her goals. She’ll get everything she wants done in the amount of time she has if she becomes a board member for a full year rather than five months. As a board, Humi doesn’t want us to feel like we’re burdening her.
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123There’s a long standoff, and then Matteo changes his vote to Sam.
124Everyone briefly changes their votes to Abby before returning to their positions.
125Sam wins.
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127(The board is now split into twos. Ominous.)
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129For next time: Discuss JCL Discord, finish spirit write-ups for Nuntius. Next meeting: September 29, 2018. Location and time TBD