Photo Courtesy of The Choate Flickr
Dear Choate,
Thank you for trusting me to lead the student body and student council. I feel honored to work with the group of driven and brilliant representatives you have elected as your incoming student council. We are very excited to amplify your voices and enact meaningful and tangible change within our community.
I also want to thank the departing council for serving with such vulnerability, advocacy, and grace. To Abby, along with the representatives and faculty advisors, who poured so much love and energy into the School, thank you.
Although we are finally emerging from COVID restrictions, our world isn’t the same as in 2019. We have an invasion in Europe, record-high rates of mental health issues and substance abuse, and a general sense of disunity. These issues aren’t specific to Choate, but we must acknowledge and support those impacted by them. To kickstart this support on a larger scale, the council is currently determining the recipients of the 5,000 dollars we have fundraised from Daily Grind donut sales. Charities we are considering include funds for Ukrainians in need and mental health services for underserved communities.
The council will also zoom in and examine how these larger world issues manifest on our own campus. For example, whether or not you supported the protests before Spring Break, it is evident that some community members feel the need for more support, so the incoming council will hold listening forums and joint meetings to problem-solve collaboratively.
Although Lex and I were the only students to officially “swear in,” I think every single one of us has already sworn into something larger than ourselves.
When we chose to become a member of the community, we all signed on to live under a set of shared values. By signing the dotted line, I believe we swore to stand by our morals and treat ourselves and those around us with dignity and compassion. In a way, we have all sworn in.
If we truly hope to revitalize the spirit of our school, we must collectively act with respect, integrity, and compassion — the values we swore in upon. Yes, the student council has the duty and platform to create change, but to make meaningful progress as a community, every one of us, beyond just the council, must remember that we have sworn in, both for ourselves and one another.
I’m excited to see our school transform, not only from student council initiatives, but also through a sense of shared purpose and appreciation, which I think we are beginning to revive. We have so much to look forward to.
Sincerely,
Ava
