The Leaders of the Leaders
The 2026-27 Senior Student Leaders and Their Goals for the Year
Each year, a new senior class rises to the top, a position that comes with both privileges and responsibilities. As the faces of the Class of 2027, Senior Class President Jediah Stewart and Student Council Co-Presidents Avery Campbell and Layla Hafez are eager to represent their school.
“I decided to run because I overall just love my school,” Stewart said. “I love my classmates, and I feel like when I came in freshman year, they were so nice to invite me in and welcome me, and I want to give back to the school by applying my talents and abilities to be a great class president.”
Between the three leaders, a wide range of students are represented. As a charter member, Hafez represents the students who have been a part of the community for 12 or more years, while Stewart and Campbell represent the students who brought in a new perspective as freshman. Hafez and Campbell believe their varied backgrounds provide a recipe for great partnership.
“We've done student council together since freshman year,” Campbell said. “[Layla] was a ninth grade representative. I was a new student representative, and that's how we first became friends. We've done so many leadership things together, and I think that the plan was always to run for president.”
While Stewart focuses on the specifically senior-related events such as Senior Sunrise, Hafez and Campbell plan the events that the whole upper school participates in, such as the Honor Code Signing.
“We work together a lot with Jediah,” Campbell said. “We communicated a lot over the summer. We talk a lot with him about the seniors' opinions and the whole school. We really just do a lot of events, and he really just takes care of the things that the seniors have.”
Each student leader works hard to organize events and give a voice to the upper school.
“[Being class president] really is a round-the-clock thing because I know with the senior shirts there was a problem,” Stewart said. “I was on the phone with some telemarketers over in China at one in the morning to order new shirts. It's definitely not something you just get to write on your resume.”
As a group, the senior leaders hope that upper school students will look up to them and follow their example. Campbell, Hafez and Stewart act as a liaison between students and administrators; they hope that students will feel comfortable coming to them with suggestions or concerns for the student body.
“A new thing that we're starting this year is grade reports,” Hafez said. “Each grade representative is supposed to go to more than one homeroom and just gather opinions and thoughts that the student body wants carried into the student council.”
Once a month, the student council co-presidents meet with the Board of Trustees, representing the students in a room of people who have a significant role in shaping school policy. As students themselves, Hafez and Campbell have a well-rounded understanding of student views. By sending out surveys, they also ensure that students understand that they are being heard.
“It’s a way of connecting with the student body through the lens that [the Board of Trustees] thinks is best to represent them,” Hafez said. “So obviously, having people our own age representing the student body is going to be better than an adult who might be farther disconnected from the crowd.”
As per their campaign, Hafez and Campbell are also hoping to instill a stronger sense of school spirit within the student body. From the new student section at games to music in the courtyard, the co-presidents are finding ways to encourage a more engaged and united upper school.
“For us, [school spirit] means that people are participating in everything, and that they're excited to be at school and at events,” Campbell said.”We want to make sure that [students] feel like their voice is important.”
While it’s important that the senior officers lead by example, it’s equally important that the entire senior class is doing the same. The Class of 2027 has a responsibility to the underclassmen and Maclay community, and only with that do they earn the privileges associated with their seniority.
“The senior class: that's who everybody looks up to,” Stewart said. “I know constantly throughout the day there's underclassmen watching me, what I do, and there definitely is a responsibility for us as seniors to lead by example.”
The leaders of student government understand that being elected is a great honor, and they look forward to making the school the best it can be while also successfully representing the student body.
“There's something so special about being elected, knowing that everyone is comfortable with me and Avery leading them,” Hafez said.
Comments