The Student Council election for the 2025-2026 school year runs from March 11 through 14, with all current sophomores and juniors having the right to vote for their candidate of choice in five different positions:
President: Catherine Ji, Phoebe Welch
Vice President: Mikaella Cord-Cruz, Ellie Weir
Secretary: Charlotte Coatar, Lyla Drapatsky
Treasurer: Aditya Banerjee, Matthew Slater
School Culture Commissioner: Alexa Kunreuther, Molly Walbrun
Elected Student Council officers represent the student body by advocating for new policies in the school, planning events like prom and the monthly observances,approving new clubs, and more. These Student Council leaders are an essential bridge between students and faculty and the greater community.
The New Trier News sat down with this year’s presidential and vice presidential candidates and asked them six questions about their candidacy. Here’s what they had to say:
Presidential candidates
Phoebe Welch: Junior
What do you think your best quality is?
I am a good people person. I am good at understanding people and collaborating with ideas. I am also very creative with my problem solving and understanding how to find a situation’s solution that best fits what everyone needs in the group and how we think we want to move forward.
Why did you choose to run for president?
I chose to run for president because I wanted to have a bigger impact on the club, and from my friends and mentors in the club, I have grown personally and as a leader, being treasurer this year. It is really important to me to be able to give that back. I was super excited during interviews to get to know the current incoming sophomores and that was an important piece for me, being a leader to them when coming to the new campus. [I want] to further the work we do as a club and help the school community through spirit, which is one of our big areas where we need to improve. We don’t have a lot of school wide spirit activities that have all school participation, which is something that I hope to improve this next year.
What goals do you have if elected?
My main three goals are school community across all grade levels and finding that inner-grade mixing and having those bonds and relationships with freshman and underclassmen, especially with the switching between campuses. Then, improving lines of communication between students and staff. I do a lot of work with ACB(Advisery Constituent Board), and I think it’s really great to be able to provide outlets for student voices and make sure that everyone gets heard and understood in the school. My last [goal] would be to improve our service aspect. I worked on a lot of fundraisers this year for the wildfires and hurricanes and headed those, and that was a really important part of my work this year. Understanding the needs of the community and what’s going around with current events, and how we can feel that we are creating a positive contribution to things going on in the world right now is a really important part of the service we do. We do a lot of work and I want to make sure that some of that goes to improving our community and helping to make change in the world.
What traits are important to you in leaders?
Someone who listens and doesn’t ever make you feel like you’re not doing the best of your capabilities. It is important to always feel appreciated by a leader and always feel valued by the team you’re working with. I think leadership is a lot of finding common ground with people. You don’t have to be friends with everyone you’re a leader to, but it’s important to understand them and listen to them and know how best to lead them in a situation.
What would you do differently from the current administration?
We’ve made some great changes. I am the treasurer on the team now. I think we can create some more roles that involve club wide participation. We have a lot of areas of work that we do independently and there is not a lot of mixing of people that do spirit work or equity work, and I think having more forms of working across grade levels is a big thing. Also, just improving the community and camaraderie with the upcoming sophomores because we are actually taking a much larger group this year due to our applicant pool, so that will be really interesting to see how that plays out. Definitely community is a big one for me.
What do you say to students who view the election as a popularity contest?
It’s definitely an aspect of it. Within popularity, at least within our election, is who not only is doing the most work within the school, but I think it’s who is making the most impact with the work they’re doing. Within Student Council, I’d like to think that [the vote] is based on what we have seen this person do in the past year and how they’ve worked with others. I think that is a huge part of our elections within Student Council. Outside of it, we do so much outreach work and that’s somewhat what reaches the student body. For those of us who don’t know us, it’s important to find out what we do through the speeches and ballot statements, which is a really important part of this election. Also, I think it shouldn’t be a popularity contest, obviously. It should be based on your skill and the work you are willing to put towards the club. I hope that’s what the outcomes will be and that it’s a good election based on characteristics. I hope we get a good team for next year.
Catherine Ji: Junior
What do you think your best quality is?
I’m curious about everyone, so when other people have different opinions, I am always interested in what they have to say. I think that’s really helpful when you’re leading a big group of people or trying to listen to everyone’s perspectives because then you can get to understand everyone more. Having that curiosity makes everyone cooperate a lot better.
Why did you choose to run for president?
I am secretary of the Student Council right now and being an officer this year has been such a great experience: getting to know everyone on Student Council, and being able to lead the whole group. Running for president is just a natural extension of that, and I really want to give back my experiences and hopefully lead a better group in the future.
What goals do you have if elected?
Definitely one of my goals is to bridge the gap between grades. Sometimes there can be a disconnect between all three grades at the Winnetka campus and I think that is definitely something we can be working on. Also, we can always continue to build opportunities for students to have their voices being shared. ACB happens, but not everyone is able to participate in it, so having more open forums for discussions so more people can share their voices.
What traits are important to you in leaders?
Curiosity and being able to listen to everyone. What goes along with that is being respectful to everyone. Also, being able to stand up for yourself if you have an opinion but also being able to take a step back and reflect on if you did something wrong or if other people have better things to say. I also think good organization is good, just logistically so you lead better.
What would you do differently from the current administration?
I’m really close with Honor [Dold], who is the president right now, and being an officer with her has let me work closely with her to have the best goals. There isn’t too much I would change and I think she is a great leader. Both in Student Council and outside, there is sometimes a disconnect between grade groups, so I would try to work more on trying to connect them.
What do you say to students who view the election as a popularity contest?
That can be a little unfair sometimes. It is important to understand that being a Student Council leader, and every club period leader, isn’t about who is best with people, but who is the best at leading. I’m not sure we can do much to change how people vote, but one way we can try to fix that issue is having more awareness on who the candidates are. Everyone that views it as unfair should try to keep an open mind for everyone that is running.
Vice presidential candidates
Mikaella Cord-Cruz: Junior
What do you think your best quality is?
I put huge emphasis on listening. When you’re leading a team, it is more important to listen than it is to take control and tell people what to do, so I always like to say that I listen, and then I delegate. This makes sure that everyone gets something that suits their personality and their role.
Why did you choose to run for vice president?
I felt like I could do the most work as vice president. I already know all of the candidates for the other positions are amazing and going to do great, no matter who wins. I felt like vice president suited me because I love leading and helping others figure out what they want to do and what their calling is.
What goals do you have if elected?
I want to make sure that the incoming sophomores feel super welcome as a part of the officer team. I also want to make sure that we do a diverse amount of projects through equity, ACB, and all those kinds of things. Also, vice presidents run election season. Going through it twice myself, I want to make sure that every candidate feels comfortable going through it and feels like they can talk to me about it.
What traits are important to you in leaders?
Listening is very important to me. Also, as a leader you should be confident in yourself, but humble. You have to be confident enough to assert what you believe in and what you think is the best idea, but you also have to be humble enough to understand how you might be wrong and that people who are below you might have better ideas. Just being open minded in that way.
What would you do differently from the current administration?
We do a lot of activities, and I feel like there isn’t enough publication or publicity around it. Just advertising the different things that we do is super important. I also want to do a lot more whole group activities. We did a retreat at the beginning [of the year] and sometimes we have wellness days and stuff like that where the whole group is together, but I want to encourage more group activities so we can get to know each other better.
What do you say to students who view the election as a popularity contest?
To a certain point, I do understand that reputation matters, and I do understand that popularity is a factor for a lot of people. Everyone should think about the fact that every person running is running because they are qualified, because they are capable, and because they are competent. Thinking about who you want to represent you is important because if you are just voting based on a name you know or who your friends like, you’re not taking advantage of the opportunity to have your voice be heard.
Ellie Weir: Junior
What do you think your best quality is?
My best quality is organization and hard work because I take on a lot, not only in Student Council, but just in general and I have the ability to get everything done in a timely manner. It also takes hard work to get everything done and do it all.
Why did you choose to run for vice president?
I really like Student Council and the community we create not only in school, but also the community we have with our members. I really want to have a higher leadership role and contribute to that community and make it better.
What goals do you have if elected?
I want to continue to enhance our community and bring our members together from all ages. Within the school, I want to work harder to make it known what Student Council does.
What traits are important to you in leaders?
Organization and diligence because in Student Council we do so much so you have to make sure everything is moving forward and getting done by the deadline. Also, doing things productively and not wasting time.
What would you do differently from the current administration?
I think the current administration does a great job, but I think there is definitely a divide in Student Council between age levels and people kind of stay in their own circles so I just really want to make everyone come together and try different things and meet new people.
What do you say to students who view the election as a popularity contest?
If they think that maybe that’s how they’re voting, but it’s not a popularity contest. People should look at what the candidates have to say and use that to base their vote. It’s really up to the candidates how the students vote.