On April 18, Isaiah Stephens ’25 and Eleni Kontokosta ’25 were elected all-school presidents for the 2024- 2025 school year.
All-school presidents help plan, organize, and run all-school meetings and Stu-Fac, and facilitate communication between students and the administration. For example, current all-school presidents, Anji Ashaye ’24 and Jacquo Pierre ’24, were instrumental in planning changes to the FFC, collecting student feedback on a variety of aspects of school life, and organizing Dorm Olympics.
Stephens and Kontokosta have held a number of leadership positions on campus. Kontokosta is a co-captain of Varsity Girls Tennis, tour guide, and peer listener. Stephens is an Upper-Mid class president and co-captain of Varsity Ultimate Frisbee.
While Ashaye and Pierre ran uncontested, six pairs ran for all-school presidents this year. Candidates wrote statements, attended Q&A sessions, and spoke in front of the community in an all-school meeting to share their visions.
Stephens was in Australia participating in the World Individual Debating & Public Speaking Championships during much of the campaign process. Due to his absence, Kontokosta participated in the StuFac Q&A session by herself. Kontokosta said, “Isaiah is really great in front of people. I’m generally a nervous speaker, so I went into StuFac thinking that I might not be able to express myself as well as he might have been able to, but I just wanted to be genuine and focus on what we as a pair could bring to the school.”
Knowing that Stephens would not be on campus, the pair pre-recorded a video outlining their ideas for the coming school year.
Addressing their qualifications, Stephens said, “I think our strengths and weaknesses mesh well. I am experienced as a public speaker, who connects with others using my words, while some of Eleni’s strengths are organization and brainstorming.”
Ashaye and Pierre encouraged student voters to consider candidates’ expressed dedication to the role and the school as a whole. For all-school presidential elections, a minimum of 75% students must vote and a winning margin of more than 50% is required to declare a victory.
Stephens and Kontokosta are proposing many new policies and ideas for the upcoming school year. Kontokosta said, “A big focus for us is improving all-school meetings. We’re thinking of how we can shape them to be more efficient and fun.”
They hope to increase student involvement in planning dances and other activities in the Main Building. In addition, they plan to raise school spirit and enhance game day culture by holding more events like the Spring Pep Rally and collaborating more with clubs throughout the year.
Stephens said, “I hope that next year we can inspire people to want to be a part of the activities we host and the changes we make. I think you earn trust when people are vulnerable with you and tell you what they see isn’t working. Then they see that their presidents care and are taking steps to make change. I’m looking forward to it.”
