Written by Isa Pierry

If the brightly decorated cars in the Senior Lot and cheerful, kid backpacks scattered around the classrooms are any indication, the Class of 2025 is set to make this year one for the books– and they’re certainly doing it with style.  

And what better, more stylish way to kick off this year than with a Senior spotlight on RCDS’ very own Student Body President Emily Cheigh ‘25?

Cheigh has been at RCDS for 12 years and began her career in student government in her Sophomore year of high school as the class president. Throughout her time working with other elected peers, Cheigh has been able to achieve feats both small and large. When asked about what she considers to be her biggest accomplishment, Cheigh replied, “I would say my biggest achievement was the 9th and 10th grade dance, which had an attendance of almost 90% and raised 2500 dollars,” promptly following up with how in her Junior year she also “did Homecoming which raised 5000 dollars and had an attendance of over 350 students– almost 80% of the high school.”

Cheigh has divided her goals as 2024-2025 Student Body President into two categories: personal and StuGo. Cheigh explains that “while I’ve already set a date for Fall Formal and am in the process of organizing a new grant system for clubs, I’ve been working on policies and systems to make sure the rest of the student government has funding and support to work on their own ideas.” She reiterates this point by driving the idea that “the Student Body President has not succeeded unless the rest of the student government has.” 

Looking ahead, Cheigh hopes to leave a lasting impact on the school by starting at least one tradition all high schoolers can partake in. The RCDS community has already seen this goal put into action with the Homecoming and 9th and 10th grade dances, which Cheigh played a pivotal role in planning.  

But who really is Emily Cheigh beyond StuGo? For starters, one might be surprised to learn that she despises breakfast foods, with the exception of omelets. This breakfast hater has also enjoyed classes like 9th Grade Biology with Mr. Rue and Computational Biology with Ms. Bischoff. Outside of school, her favorite activity has been Generation Impact, a not-for-profit organization that teaches teen girls about philanthropy and provides them with opportunities to help out in their community. 

Cheigh makes clear she is also one to go all out for Wildcat Weekend, proclaiming it her favorite RCDS tradition. Cheigh states, “I feel like it’s the one time the whole RCDS community really comes together because the faculty is there, students from all divisions are there, the grounds team is there, and a lot of parents are there too.” This event truly encompasses everything RCDS: club booths, sports games, student government booths, wildcat den sales, the Fun Run, and Willy the Wildcat. What more could anyone want from one of the most anticipated events of the year?

As Cheigh begins her year as SBP, the one piece of advice she would give to all wildcats out there would be to “talk to everyone. No one leaves high school and says they wished they had excluded more people or talked to less people. The most fun conversations are with people you wouldn’t expect to be talking to, and you should strive to be the person people know they can talk to.” 

Cheigh is setting the tone for a fantastic year ahead!