Announcing: Ninth Grade Executive Committee

The Class of 2027, our current ninth-grade leaders, have already set the tone for the year: trust. 

During their class trip to Cape Cod the first week of school, the class bonded through group challenges like rope course elements, campfire chats, and trust-building activities.

“Throughout these activities, we faced challenges, developed our communication skills, and learned to work as a team. Today, we will demonstrate how we worked together to overcome an obstacle, and used our new skills to help guide us,” said ninth-grader Yoobin Perry.

The trip is traditionally when the class would elect its Ninth-Grade President. This year, however, the group decided that they would instead create a joint-leadership opportunity: The Executive Committee, led by ninth graders Yoobin, Ellie Sudmyer, and Simón Rodriguez.

Ellie explained, “We decided that maybe it would be best to work with more people this year so we can build with different perspectives, creativity, and most importantly, trust.”

Together the Executive Committee will not merely lead their classmates, but the school as a whole. Simón pointed out that the goals of this new committee mirror the goals that they set during that first class trip, particularly an activity where the group needed to hold onto a rope with both hands while trying to stand up together. The challenge was difficult at first, he said: “We started arguing, which made the objective of the game much harder to reach. Finally, after realizing we needed to take our time and put our faith in each other, we achieved our goal.”

During the annual Welcome Assembly, the class and its new Executive Committee demonstrated the rope activity for the rest of the school, showing how teamwork was the only way to overcome the challenge.

“As we start this year off, our class wanted to reassure you that this community is a team; it's a place where we can trust each other, build off of one another, and learn from mistakes together,” Ellie told the other K–9 students. “Trust in your teachers, your peers, and yourself, because by early June you will have established connections and created so many memorable experiences with the people surrounding you, that you will remember for years to come.”