Elected Sixth Form Student Council members and appointed Secretary Audrey Sze ’17 (front row, second from the right) pose for a photo after their meeting.
With only a term left in their tenures, the sixth form incumbents of the Student Council are busier than ever, making sure that they fulfill their promises and responsibilities to the best of their abilities before they pass their batons to the next generation of students in the spring. Here, they share the goals they hope to accomplish in the upcoming months.
Student Body President
Cecilia Zhou ’17
Zhou seeks to find ways in which the Council can better represent diversity on campus, especially with regards to gender diversity and voicing the opinions of freshmen and day students. Within the Council, Zhou hopes to continue making more gender-neutral and gender-expansive policies.
The Council is also discussing possible ways to ensure voices from various student groups are being heard, as well as inspecting the current election process in order to see if there are any improvements that can be made for this coming Student Council election.
Student Body Vice President
Namsai Sethpornpong ’17
Sethpornpong is currently working to improve Daily Grind’s sales, which have recently declined due to the popularity of the Lanphier Center café and the extension of the dining hall’s operating hours. The impending opening of the St. John Hall Student Center, as well as the possible removal of Community Lunch next year, may further deter customers from coming to the Daily Grind.
Sethpornpong plans to bring Daily Grind to large-scale events — such as sports games and plays — as opposed to relying solely on Friday’s Conference block. Also, Sethpornpong is looking to broaden the range of foods offered at the Daily Grind by including, for example, vegetarian sandwiches and donuts from Neil’s.
Sixth Form President
Amir Idris ’17
In addition to having class committee meetings with his form, Idris plans to meet with third formers. “James Gibson, the sixth form president last year, noted that the third formers are sort of an untapped resource,” Idris said. “They’re so fresh into the Choate system that they have ideas that most of us upperclassmen don’t consider since we’ve been here for so long. I believe that having class committee meetings with the third formers and getting some of their ideas will be beneficial to both them and the school at large.”
Sixth Form Representative Leland Ben ’17
Ben wishes to change the grading system for new students during their first term. He explained, “I came here as a new junior, and to be honest, it wasn’t easy. For at least some people, the focus is immediately and solely on getting good grades, which I believe is not what the school aims to promote. So I think making the first term a pass/fail, or even just the grades up to the first midterm pass/fail, will be beneficial to the community.”
Sixth Form Representative Jack Hutchinson ’17
“The utmost priority to me is to leave a lasting legacy of the Class of 2017,” said Hutchinson. “This is important to me because I truly love my class. It’s a great group of individuals, and hearing from the seniors of the past, they’ve waited too long to come together, meet some new friends, and unify as a group.” He plans to get their ideas as much as possible in the remaining terms, and try to organize events to promote form-bonding.
Sixth Form Representative Larisa Owusu ’17
Owusu, along with Idris and the sixth-form deans, aims to fully integrate post-graduate students into the Choate community. “Usually, I think people have this idea that they’re just this label. A football P.G. A lacrosse P.G. In most cases, they don’t have any other identity,” she said. “I want to help the P.G.s not be afraid to talk to different people, to try new things.”
Owusu is also working to provide standardized testing tutoring for students from low-income backgrounds, an idea that stemmed from her own struggles to find resources she could afford. Her next step is to talk to the Student Council advisers, Dr. Lauren Martini and Mr. Oliver Morris, to explore the possibility of joining forces with the Financial Aid Office and the College Counseling Office to bring tutors to campus.
Day Student Representative
Jack Hodgson ’17
“Being the day student representative and seeing how former day student representatives were unable to get issues specific to day students addressed,” Hodgson explained, he realized day students are underrepresented. As such, Hodgson identified that his priority is to “work toward increasing day student representation on the Student Council,” potentially by adding more Day Student Representatives.
