On May 16, the newly elected 10 booster girls and eight birdkeeper boys were announced on the Bellaire High School Instagram, @bellairehigh.

The student body elected Ashley Burt, Caroline Hadad, Sophia Hamdani, Mialeena Martinez, Nina Ozuna, Olive Page, Jennifer Paz Lopez, Addison Slater, Mia Wilner and Ellie Zacharia as boosters. Jonathan Araujo, Andrew Baca, Cooper Bayne, Michael Caspary, William Connor, Luke Davis, David Raichman and Alexander Tilney were elected as birdkeepers. Birdkeepers and boosters help organize pep rallies, run the booster/birdkeeper Instagram account and attend sports games to support the players. They are all dedicated to promoting school spirit, according to 2025 graduate and former booster president Sage Canahuati.

Canahuati said the voting website initially used to run this year’s election allowed students from outside Bellaire to vote. Once they resolved the issue, all previous votes were cancelled and Bellaire High School’s Canvas was used to ensure no one from other schools could vote. According to Canahuati, the situation made some of the candidates upset because they spent “hundreds of dollars” to promote themselves.

“The candidates spent a lot of time and money on treats and other things to persuade people to vote for them and to promote themselves, so it was really upsetting for them,” Canahuati said. “I think that another thing they were upset about was with voting being on Canvas, we had no information about voting. No one knew what was happening.”

Booster and birdkeeper candidates passed out snacks, made signs and used Instagram to campaign. Senior and new booster candidate Madeline Morrissette bought candy and snacks throughout the campaign process.

“It was just very unorganized,” Morrissette said. “The voting date changed three times, so all of our initial campaigning, the first time voting came out, didn’t count. So it just ended up being a lot of spent money for no reason, and then when they actually did vote, it was in the middle of AP testing, so I know a lot of people, myself included, had to miss campaigning days to take testing. But I don’t know if it would have made a big difference [on the results] if it was a different time.”

2025 graduate and former president of the birdkeepers, Brayden Blackburn, has been a birdkeeper for two years.

“My advice to the incoming birdkeepers is to enjoy it,” Blackburn said. “Go to every football game. Wear the themes. Go to the pep rallies. Because honestly, the football games are some of the most fun I’ve ever had in high school. It goes by fast, so just enjoy every moment.”

Senior and booster member Tilney initially ran because “it seemed like a really fun opportunity.”

“I think [being a birdkeeper] means representing the school and representing what the squad has to offer with school spirit and being the face of the school,” Tilney said. “I think it just means putting our best foot forward as a school and showing what it means to be a student at Bellaire.”

As a birdkeeper, Tilney volunteered and traveled to San Antonio to support the boys basketball team at their state championship game in March.

“I’m really excited for this upcoming year with my fellow boosters and birdkeepers,” Tilney said. “I can’t wait to go to all the pep rallies, to go to all the volleyball, basketball and football games. I’m just really excited to show school spirit.”

To keep up with the boosters and birdkeepers, follow their Instagram account @bhs.boosterbirdkeeper.