2021-22 Upper School Student Council Elects

As the school year comes to an end, students at the School elected a new student council for the 2021-2022 school year. Following a tumultuous year, the student council’s main goal is to build community for the next school year.

Co-Presidents, rising seniors Caroline Gong and Athena Muhammad have extensive experience in leadership positions. From their Instagram account @athenacarolinecoprez, Muhammad worked with the Oakland City Council, making police, educational, and mental health support more accessible and equitable. Gong has founded a nonprofit called Rhapsody for Youth, promoting youth activism.

In their personal statements, Gong and Muhammad pledged to focus on communication, wellness, and fair food. They plan to implement a test calendar, which will reduce stress for students.They also plan to have student wellness days, which are days for students to relax and unwind with a free day without any homework. Gong and Muhammad’s Fair Food Initiative plans to reduce lunch costs for hot meals by lowering the costs of select meals, starting special food days, and matching students’ financial aid with Cafe prices.

Rising junior, Hayden Thompson, who was re-elected to Treasurer launched the first ever club grant program, allowing student organizations to get funding during this school year. Thompson started an official K-12 student tutoring program.

Thompson created the CORE pathway. CORE stands for community, opportunity, resources, and engagement. She is prioritizing community building and working with other student council members to secure more funding for student organizations. Thompson aims to grow the grants from $300 to $600 for student organizations. She will be launching a K-12 peer tutoring program and creating a universal calendar of school events.

Newly elected Secretary, rising junior Anika Ramaswamy had experience in student council serving as the 10th grade representative. Ramaswamy plans to make sure that student council meetings are productive. She promises to make students aware of school events, such as student council projects and decisions and to ensure that student voices are heard. 

Ramaswamy also plans to make student council more transparent through the secretary-led quarterly newsletter, giving email updates about important issues, and even potentially making an HRS Connect page to provide updates from student council.

Spirit Masters, rising seniors Abby Evans, Phoebe Florance, and Ona Ortiz-Gudeman have been very involved in the School’s community. Ortiz-Gudeman has been in student council, Florance has played on multiple athletic teams, and Evans has served in leadership positions.

The Spirit Masters plans to bring back the Spirit Committee and will listen to the ideas of the student body. They will send surveys getting input from the student body about the themes for spirit week. They will change the usual welcome back dance into a formal homecoming day and to bring back the school-wide dodgeball tournament “to help people to get to know each other,” says Ortiz-Gudeman.