Last week’s Student Council meeting kicked off with the introduction of a new faculty adviser: Mr. John Connelly. Mr. Connelly joined Ms. Kyra Jenney as the second adviser to the Student Council. Mr. Connelly has been at Choate for 37 years and teaches a variety of HPRSS classes, including Honors World History, American Studies, Modern China, and War in Vietnam.
Mr. Connelly was not the only new face at the table. Ms. Libby Peard, Director of Health and Wellness Services and Dr. Holly Hinderlie, Wellness Coordinator, sat in on the meeting to collaborate with Fifth-Form Representatives Will Robertson ’20 and Caroline Rispoli ’20 on a new wellness initiative. Robertson and Rispoli have drafted a proposal to convene a student Wellness Committee available to students of all forms via application. Ms. Peard offered her support, stating, “I love the concept. You guys are expected to be superhuman, and it’s still not enough. We do need to unpack how to make your lives more balanced.” Fourth-Form Representative Ula Lucas ’21 explained the need for a specific Wellness Committee that is separate from other student issues: “With a committee, there’s a constant stream of communication between the deans and the students just about wellness.” Fourth-Form President Shane Baldwin ’21 agreed: “I think things relating to wellness will get done a lot faster this way rather than just going through the deans.”
Student Council also discussed a second initiative spearheaded by Fourth-Form Representative Anesi Ojior ’21. Ojior introduced her proposal by describing the results of a student poll she conducted. “No one really knew what student council was working on. Why don’t we make it easier?” she asked. She presented two options: publicizing the Student Council website by having Information Technology Services put a Student Council button on the portal or sending out weekly emails to the student body containing Student Council updates. Sixth-Form Representative Arjun Katechia ’19 voiced his support for the latter. “It is our job as Student Council members to represent our constituents,” he said. “If we want our constituents to actively talk about what we talk about, an email would be great.”
