*Editor’s Note: On Monday, May 10, the annual Spring Student Government Form Senate elections will commence for the incoming 4th, 5th, and 6th forms. Candidates have submitted statements and will participate in a debate followed by a class vote. You can find their statements below. 

Class of 2024

Mason Moore ’24 | Rehoboth Beach, DE

I want to run for SGA for a variety of reasons. I feel as though that I can adequately represent my form, the class of 2024. I think there is a common misconception about what an SGA form senator does. Our job is to listen to our form. Listen to what they are complaining about, or what they like and relay this information to the rest of the SGA. I want to run for SGA because I feel as though I can do a quality job doing these things I listed.

Ben Sullivan ’24 | Pottstown, PA

My name is Ben Sullivan, and I want to run for SGA because I believe I am best fit to represent the class of 2024. I can relate to almost all of peers and their personal Hill experience in one way or another, and I am confident that I have solid ideas on ways to make day-to-day Hill life more enjoyable and productive. I grew up watching my older brothers pass through Hill and in doing so I was given a glimpse of what Hill was like even from a young age. I understand the struggles of normal Hill life and the things that make it amazing, but more importantly I was able to see normal Hill but receive COVID Hill, a perspective likely rare among Third Formers. A perspective able to consider what could be a better Hill. Because of this I want to run for SGA and do everything I possibly can to help my peers.

Carrington Bernabei ’24 | Lancaster, PA

Hi! I’m Carrington, and I’m running for representative of our Fourth Form for next year. After this year, we certainly have a lot to make up for. With hopes of next year being more like traditional Hill, I want to work wi

th all of you in order to make it great. This year has been tough and challenging on everyone. It’s been hard for us

Third Formers to experience Hill fully this year, and it’s been especially difficult to get our Form together for events. With new students coming and our Form expanding, I hope to make it a top priority of planning many more opportunities for our form to get to know each other better and havea ton of fun while doing so. I think it is of utmost importance that we all connect and strengthen our bond. I have three years of experience working in the student led government in my middle school, which I believe has prepared me well in working with others and coming up with creative, new ideas. I am a strong communicator, and hard worker and if elected, I am determined to make your voices heard. Although we’ve had a tough year, I hope to work to bring our Form closer and work with you all to make our Fourth Form year fantastic.

Brianna Ditty ’24 | Dover, DE

It is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to run and possibly serve for SGA representative. I have many of the qualities needed to fill the role especially since student government was a big part of my life at my previous school. Along with my past experience, I am an organized person and am an efficient communicator allowing me to express the needs and concerns of our community. I am also an approachable person allowing for people to bring me topics that need to be addressed. Lastly, I really love the school and am passionate to further unify the student body. I look forward to representing all of the students to the best of my ability if elected.

Ella Lee ’24 | Larchmont, NY

Why do you want to run for SGA?

Hi! My name is Ella Lee, and I am a boarder from Larchmont, NY. I want to run for SGA to improve communication between the students and the administration of the Hill to help create a better environment for our community. I believe our form, specifically, is made up of so many talented and intelligent individuals, and I want us to become closer and unified for the years to come. Since COVID, I definitely feel as though a lot has been taken away from us, and I want to bring some of that back for the next school year. Even though I can’t make any promises, I can ensure that I will be open minded and make beneficial decisions to create a better Hill! I want to encourage all students to never be afraid to speak up and be open about their frustrations and concerns. As an SGA senator, I will uphold and maintain essential leadership values, and will have good intentions to foster a better environment for the student body. Thank you!

What do you have to contribute to the group?

“Loosing” my freshman year of Hill motivated me to step up and help make Hill better for the future. I believe my qualities of open mindedness will help create fun ideas to make our student body a more positiveand connected group. Also, I hope that my sense of approachability will help alleviate any frustrations that the students face, whether it would be COVID rules, or any other issues that come forth.

If you haven’t run before, why now?

I ran for third form senator back in the fall. Looking back, I realized that everyone, including myself, were becoming acclimated to COVID hill, and I didn’t know many faces on campus. Now, I feel as though I’ve adjusted and have gotten to know the majority of people on campus. I am confident in my leadership skills and am excited to see what the next year brings.

Reet Tharwani ’24 | Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Hill has already given me the opportunity to not only grow as a student and a leader, but also has an individual. My hope and goal is to be able to give back to the community in some capacity. Through SGA, I am given the o

pportunity to implement new ideas to help bring the community closer while also creating a change that will last long past my time at Hill. My goals include bring a sense of diversity and inclusion as well as building a sense of community through all facets of life. Additionally, SGA will allow me to bring create and collaborate on new ideas which will help the overall school population. I also wish to run for the position of form representative because I am still re

latively new to the Hill environment. Not only do I bring a fresh perspective to the position, but I also bring in an international perspective. With that being said, if given the opportunity, I wish to create an inclusive space as well as allowing there to be room for change for the betterment of our beloved school.

Class of 2023

John Ju ’23 | Irvine, CA

Dear Classmates,

What an odd year it has been. While we have been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to be in-person this past few terms, we never fully experienced what it means to be a part of the Hill Community. This includes enjoying our friends during seated meals or simply going on a walk to Wawa across High Street after a long school day. Though the next school year at Hill is full of unknowns, as your SGA Senator, I will promise you all that I will strive to create the best student experience for our Form. I look forward to hearing from you all and best of luck to all our candidates. Thank you.

Your friend,

John Ju

Stefanie Li ’23 | Hong Kong

Hello! I am Stefanie Li, the current female SGA representative for the fourth form, and I amr unning for re-election for the 2021-2022 school year. Having been on SGA for two years now, not only have I completed a considerable amount of proposals such as altering check-in systems, but I have also fully understood the inner workings of the SGA and the proposals that will truly be approved. This will effectively prevent me from aiming for unrealistic proposals and wasting potential and time on proposals that will not go through eventually. If I am able to get re-elected, I promise to carry out my duties as the SGA rep by staying transparent (such as through constant email communication and open forums), by listening to my peers, and by actively voicing the opinions of my classmates. After all, the essential aim of The Hill School’s SGA is to close the gap between the administration and the student body through the active voicing of opinions from SGA members, and I believe I will be able to do a good job of that for an additional year.

MoniYah Person-Henderson ’23 | Pottstown, PA

I want to run for SGA because I truly love Hill and want to make it a safe space for everyone. In the past year we’ve had many things come into light in our school and our country. At times many students felt unheard, scared, or misinterpreted and I want to make sure they are not. As an SGA rep I want to make sure everyone’s voices are heard. The students & staff are doing a great job with DEI discussions and intense chapel talks. I want to make sure we continue such things. Secondly as a Rep for my grade, I want smaller issues to be addressed. There has been a few infestations in the dorms I hear my friends complain about. That isn’t acceptable and should be addressed. Issues like these are important to me because they are affecting my classmates. As a day student, we also deal with concerns such as miscommunication between us. This year we had two boarder representatives causing Day Students to feel a slight disconnect. Although our reps did a fantastic job, having one day student and one boarder truly helps. As a woman, person of color, and a local I am well rounded in many areas and can assist my peers. I am outgoing and personable which is a great trait to have as a student leader.

Class of 2022

Yoseph Kim ’22 | Seoul, South Korea

I would love to run for the SGA in order to bring positive, significant change to the Hill community. During an era of turmoil and conflict, the school needs leaders who are capable of uniting students and make things right. I would like to enhance the students’ lives by eliminating unnecessary school requirements and by promoting a healthier lifestyle. I haven’t decided to run before as I had little knowledge of what the students needed.

Eddie Proffitt ’22 | Lancaster, PA

I would like to be a part of SGA because I wish to become a fully contributing and leading member of this new community that I have recently joined. I felt the Hill community touch me through the squash team and through the friendly faces I quickly came to know as my friends on the hall. Before my transition to this school, I was a leader. I had led my middle school in a coresidential role as an 8th grader, I had been chosen to attend a leadership seminar through a vote of my teachers, and I had led my squash team as captain for multiple years. After learning from these leadership experiences, I came to Hill.  Shortly after joining this family, I have taken to many leadership roles in and outside of my school life. I became a prefect this spring and have felt comfortable with the new responsibilities and relationships the process has brought me. Additionally, on the squash team, I was asked to reach out to perspective students to give them insight into the Hill experience. Outside of school, I have become part of a fellowship of student leaders called Civics Unplugged, which supports and educates Gen Z leaders to help shape the future of democracy. These various experiences have all created a familiarity with the responsibilities and mindset that accompany leadership, making me a great candidate to help our community deal with the turbulent future of reemerging from a world of Covid restrictions. These same reasons, which inspired me to run for the co-presidential position with Anna, continue to motivate me to become active in student government in other ways.

Martin Tran ’22 | Hanoi, Vietnam

I am Martin Tran, a current 5th form student from Vietnam. I have had the fortunate pleasure of serving in the SGA before, along with holding leadership positions in several clubs including the Film and TV Club and AI Investment and Trading Club. For the past year, I have made many observations about the state of student government agendas, and I am deeply troubled by the lack of solid initiatives, which will not be the case for my platform. Firstly, I want to advocate for better sexual, physical, mental health education at Hill- whose chief program, Eudemonia, has not been able to accommodate the standards of our students in its current stage. I have talked to many students and teachers who are involved in the course, and a problem we have is with Hill’s long history of ‘abstinence only’ mentality, which many studies have proved to not be effective at preventing the spread of STIs, and furthermore alienates teens who are already sexually active. Secondly, I will propose to make an amendment to the SGA constitution toinclude that ranked-choice voting is a requirement, to negate the impact of associated social pressures in school elections to vote in cliques, and to make all elections equally valid as no committee could decide to change it from election to election. Lastly, I hope to improve and facilitate communications both within and between the student body and faculty. This has always been a highly coveted goal for SGA members, yet some believe that it is impossible or do not see the point of it. I disagree, however, and as an example, because of bad communications and administrative failure, we have a quarter machine that has cost several thousand dollars, and yet after only one year of installment in the Student Center, we have now made all washing machine and dryers free. I thank the people who have read my statement, and the reason I write it all here is for you all to keep me accountable. We need experience in the SGA, especially as 6th formers, who are expected to lead the school, and if elected, I will serve to the fullest of my abilities, and keep the torch running from the brilliant line of 6th form senators who have walked these hills.

Callie Connelly ’22 | Elverson, PA

I want to be the sixth form female SGA representative next year because I’ve really enjoyed my time on the SGA as a fifth former and want to continue. Although this has been a strange year, I think that I’ve been able to make a positive impact on the community. I’ve really enjoyed taking on this leadership role at Hill, and am dedicated to the position. Although there hasn’t been a ton of room for change this year at Hill, given all of the Covid restrictions, I believe that I’ve been an open and approachable leader of the fifth form, and want to continue to this into my sixth form year. Additionally, since I became the fifth form representative midway through the year, I would love to be able to become a more involved leader from the beginning of the year.

Ava Gawronski ’22 | Pottstown, PA

When times are tough, we look for a shoulder to lean upon.  I want to be that helping hand in our comm

unity.  Working alongside the student body will put our school in its best position.  As a day student, you pick up on certain things that make your Hill experience different from others.  I want to be the bridge that connects every member.  That is a subsequent reason in my hopes of working with SAMH, DEI, and the like to promote inclusion and transparency.  I know the challenges of being a new student and I have reflected upon my time to be able to aid others.  I have grown immensely since my first year in

2019 and have developed relationships with all aspects of our school.  I am ready to step up and use my voice.  With COVID affecting everyone this past year, it is more important than ever for our form to join together.  Our Sixth Form year will be a great one once we are all here, surrounded by the people that care.

Thank you!

Ava

Anna Schlegel ’22 | Pottstown, PA

I am still of the belief that I can serve my school effectively, efficiently, and impactfully, even as a Senator. I did not misspeak during the debate, I am a qualified candidate who is going to give their 100% given the opportunity. Given the chance to work with Sarah and Noah, and whoever the other Senator will be, I believe we will become one of the strongest and most impactful SGA committee this school has ever seen.