Sam B. hands gavels to Angela and Mikey. (Courtesy/Adi S.)
On Wednesday, April 26, Columbus Academy held its annual installation ceremony of the new student leaders for the next school year. The upper school gathered in the theater as the current student council and Service board presidents passed the torch to the newly elected presidents.
Prior to the induction, the student body listened to speeches from the candidates for student body co-presidents and Service board presidents on April 24. Three pairs of juniors spoke in the student body co-president race: Adam R. and Adi S., Angela H. and Mikey J., and Charlotte B. and David W. In addition to speeches, Ms. Stout shared each pair’s application responses for the upper school to read. Each group voiced reasons why they would make great leaders, promised to make positive changes to the CA community, and presented their ideas for the upcoming school year. After votes were tallied, Dean Thompson announced that Angela and Mikey would become the 2023-2024 student body co-presidents.
Three contenders ran for two service board positions: president and vice-president. To be eligible, one must be a SHAPER, which is the “steering committee” of CA’s Service board. This year, Arya C., Justin A., and Milana B. ran for the position. Each speech highlighted their Service to qualify for president. Justin was voted in as president and Arya as vice president for the fall.
To begin the ceremony, Ms. Bening presented a slideshow of this year’s various services and a thank you to the (now former) Service leaders Emily M. and Lia H., respectively. After Ms. Bening’s touching speech, Emily and Lia stepped up to hand gavels to Justin and Arya, formally passing the job to the pair.
Following the Service board ceremony, Ms. Stout, student council’s faculty advisor, surprised the upper school with a slideshow of her own which featured her nieces and pets. Her presentation reminded the student body of all the hard work Student Council had done in the past year, as she extended her gratitude to the 2022-2023 student body co-presidents, Sam B. and Alicia D. After the oration, Sam stepped up to the microphone to deliver a speech of his own and pass down the torch to Angela and Mikey, giving them the title of co-presidents. In addition to handing over the responsibility, Sam commended Ms. Stout and Ms. Eden, as they decided to step down from the faculty advisor position of Student Council and pass on the role to our Dean of Students, Mr. Thompson.
Congratulations to Angela, Arya, Justin, and Mikey! Columbus Academy is looking forward to the changes and impacts you make on our community next school year.
