Ryan Cheng ’24, Glory Ho ’24, Elizabeth Johnstone ’24 and Nyla Shelton ’24 were elected as Senior Prefects for the 2023-2024 school year. Johnstone was elected after the first round of elections, while Cheng, Ho and Shelton were elected following two runoff elections.

Johnstone said she is excited to get started in her role as a Senior Prefect and bring a new perspective to student leadership.

“I’m going to hit the ground running,” Johnstone said. “It’s often said that first-time Prefects don’t know the extent to which they can change the system and that it’s very impractical to think in big-picture terms. Maybe that’s fair, but I believe it just takes a certain attitude and dedication to fully fulfill one’s platform. Time really flies, especially during senior year, so I do want to make the most of it.”

Ho, who represented her grade from seventh through tenth grade, was not elected as a Junior Prefect last year. Ho said her experience away from Prefect Council taught her a number of organizational and communication skills, which she hopes will carry over into her work as a Senior Prefect.

“Honestly, having one year off of Prefect Council made me more emboldened to run because I could see how much or how little [Prefect] Council affected the student body through a new lens,” Ho said. “I want to emphasize the importance of mental health and the strength of our community. Along with that, I definitely want to work to make the Honor Board more transparent.”

Johnstone said her motivation to run as a first-time prefect was largely based on finding a solution for better student mental health.

“This year has been quite awful really, for this whole community,” Johnstone said. “I think it’s so important that we acknowledge that there is a systemic change that needs to happen. We need to remember that our goal is not to heal back to what we were before these incidents happened, but to examine the structures and the foundations of our community that created an environment in which these tragedies happened. I felt that being a senior prefect was a great way to have those tough conversations with adults in leadership and bridge the gap between students, parents, teachers, and administration.”

Cheng said he is excited to increase transparency within Prefect Council as a first-time Prefect.

“The main [reason] that I ran was to promote openness,” Cheng said. “I want everyone to know that I’m always open to talk. Whether it be about personal situations or suggestions for Prefect Council, I’m happy to listen. I hope to bring a new perspective to the Council that’ll make things new and exciting.”

Maxwell Lee ’24 said he thought the election process was properly executed.

“I thought the election process was run really smoothly,” Lee said. “I appreciated that runoffs were used to determine the best candidates.”