Simon Lee ’23 and Yoshimi Kimura ’23 were voted as Head Prefects for the 2022-2023 school year, according to a March 24 email from current Head Prefects Jade Stanford ’22 and Executive Editor Quincey Dern ’22.

Kimura said she was surprised and thrilled when she was notified of the election results.

“[I was overcome with] absolute shock,” Kimura said. “Every candidate this year was so qualified and personable, and I think we all could have seen the elections going in any number of ways. I was also super excited. [Lee] and I didn’t get a chance to really celebrate together, as he was on a plane to Europe when we were notified, but I definitely did a happy dance on the Quad.”

Lee said his and Kimura’s plans for next year include a couple of main themes.

“We’d love to start our work on three main things: increasing mental health support, awareness and accommodation on campus by incorporating student voices into administrative discussions, implementing the bias reporting system on campus that’s been in the works for a while and refining homework and assessment policies to a point where they are more easily understood by both students and teachers,” Lee said. “The big picture is that we want to interact with the community and make [the school] a more engaging, healthy and supportive place to be. We’re excited for what’s to come.”

Lee and Kimura were elected as Head Prefects in the second round of elections after the junior class voted on four candidates to advance — Kimura, Lee, Aiko Offner ’23 and Carter Staggs ’23. The candidates gave speeches to sophomores and juniors in Taper Gym along with an answer to an unprepared question after introductions by Stanford and Dern. Sophomores and juniors then indicated their top two choices in surveys and were given 24 hours to cast their votes.

In her candidate statement, Offner said she hoped to focus on inclusivity on campus by listening to students.

“As Head Prefect, I would strive more than anything to create an inclusive and collaborative environment that can extend into the rest of the community,” Offner said in her statement. “I don’t think a council’s success is defined solely by the number of fun events it plans, but the ways in which it listens to [the students’] needs and adapts to make student life more manageable [and] worthwhile and brings [students] closer as a community.”

Offner said she is proud of both Lee and Kimura and is confident they will be strong leaders.

“I think [Lee and Kimura] are absolutely amazing, and they will make the most amazing Head Prefects and lead the council in an amazing direction,” Offner said.

Jake Lancer ’24 said he is excited to see if the Head Prefects will effectively bring about change in the school community.

“I think it will be really interesting to see if the Head Prefects can follow through with their promises in their speeches, and I am excited to see what they implement into the [school] community,” Lancer said.