Concord Academy has seen phenomenal student leaders in the past two years. This year, we were able to enjoy the “new and improved” Winterfest with food, games, raffles, and a talent show, all of which were made possible because of Vedika and Matthew. Our head and vice heads of school are our voices to the administration and are relied heavily upon in order to ensure the students feel heard, represented, and valued.
When running last year, Vedika wrote in her statement of intent that she wanted to include a “Reading Day”, where students could bring in their books and spend the day reading. She thought that this event could become a cherished tradition and a great way for her to enact change that others in the community would value. Though exams were cancelled this year because of the coronavirus, she was still able to deliver on her promise by making sure that during the interim week we were still able to have our “reading days”.
During his statement of intent, Matthew suggested creating a weekly system for students to submit their ideas to Council directly and anonymously, possibly through a google form.
“I understand that this school may not be the best place for everyone, and the council has a responsibility in hearing those voices,” Matthew shared. Since distance learning started, students have all definitely received emails about how we felt each school-wide event went, showing how much our feedback is truly valued by the council.
Vedika and Matthew have both done so much to make this year special for each and every student and, as the year comes to an end, we look to Zahaan Khalid ’21 and Eric Liu ’21 who will be our head and vice head of school in the upcoming school year. There have been many improvements made this year on campus; however, we still have a few things on the list and our new vice head of school, Eric, has a plan.
“I am looking forward to cooperating with Zahaan to make changes in the DC policy and enhance the communication between the administration and the student body,” he shared.
Working alongside Eric will be our new head of school Zahaan Khalid, the co-head of SASS and MSA. From his experience as co-head, he wants to bring everything that he has learned to his new leadership position within the CA community. In his statement of intent he stated that “The experiences I have gained these last two years have turned friends into family, teachers into mentors, and a school into (a?) home…. As Head of School, my top priority would be to make sure that everybody can have the most enjoyable and equitable CA experience as possible.” When asked about what he is looking forward to, he said “I am really looking forward to starting next year off strong, keeping spirits, energy, and love high and I also am looking forward to working with the council to work on making changes our school needs with open ears.”
Though the 2020-21 academic school year may look a little bit different, there is no doubt that the students leading it will have the same drive, dedication, and passion as their predecessors have had in leading our amazing community.