Orion Douglas '21 Elected Vice-Mayor for the New England Region of JSA
CSW would like to congratulate CSW JSA Chapter President Orion Douglas ‘21 for being elected as next year’s Vice-Mayor for the New England region by the JSA Foundation Northeast State, one of the six elected official positions in the Northeast State.
Once he announced his candidacy, he hit the ground running with a goal modeled after JSA's slogan, "Be The People." Orion's goal was to build a foundation within the Northeast region that would connect its delegates, broadcast their opinions, explore new opportunities, and include them in operations.
At first hesitant, Orion decided on running for vice-mayor the night before Candidacy Declarations at Winter Congress after some encouragement from members of the CSW JSA Chapter. "I realized that my role as CSW Chapter president was why I was qualified to run for the position. My perspective through the lens of a delegate and not a cabinet member allows me to address real issues our region is facing." This was an opportunity to give back to the organization that has fostered growth for him.
Once he announced his candidacy, he hit the ground running with a goal modeled after JSA's slogan, "Be The People." Orion's goal was to build a foundation within the Northeast region that would connect its delegates, broadcast their opinions, explore new opportunities, and include them in operations.
"Running for Vice Mayor has allowed me to strengthen my leadership skills, but ultimately it has taught me that being a constituent is a strength rather than a weakness. I held this conception that power is based on hierarchy, but recognized for there to be a hierarchy, there must be a foundation. The foundation is the constituents," said Orion. Regardless of the results, Orion knew his work would still be impactful to the region because of his experience as an active delegate. This ultimately led to his victory in the vice-mayoral race receiving 68% of the votes.
Due to Covid-19, this election season took place primarily through social media but Orion says he is excited to meet his constituents in person and make new friends. As he enters his last year of JSA he also looks forward to strengthening his public speaking skills and finishing strong with CSW JSA. Orion, along with the Mayor, will oversee five departments in the New England Region of JSA in the Northeast State and are already planning to establish year-long goals for next year!
The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.