As La Salle’s first Officer of Philanthropy, junior Gabrielle Jones had the unique opportunity this year to design the role and develop its responsibilities alongside Director of Community & Student Leadership Ms. Adriana Noesi. Looking ahead to next year, Jones is excited to fulfill the role again.

“I’ve had such a good time, and I’ve learned so much from the position, meeting with faculty and planning some events,” Jones said. “I would love to do it again next year, so I’m really happy I got the position.”

Next year, she plans to expand Café Justo as a place more clubs can easily use and where more fundraisers to happen, wanting to help better represent all the minority groups here at La Salle. Jones is looking forward to working with a partner in the position next year, as this year, she was the sole Officer of Philanthropy. 

“It’ll be a little different, but I’m excited to work with a partner,” she said. “I feel like the ideas can only get stronger from there.”

Next year will not be junior David Sharyan’s first in leadership, as last year, Sharyan served as the sophomore class president for the class of 2026. Even so, he looks forward to working with Jones next year in a new role — Co-Officer of Philanthropy.

“I’m really excited to work with these talented, intelligent, and passionate young people,” Sharyan said. “I think we are all very excited for our new roles and very excited to work with each other and the leadership administrative team.”

Sharyan expressed his high hopes for fundraising next year alongside his co-officer and is determined to exceed their previous fundraising goals.

“There’s no ceiling … the more we fundraise, the more we’re able to help [groups] like Mwangaza college or Lot Whitcomb,” Sharyan said. “That’s really rooted in the Lasallian aspect of service, and that’s why I’m really honored to be in this role.”

To sophomore Jacob Broudy, being an Officer of Spirit is a good opportunity to connect with the school through pep assemblies, dances, and games — “[things] where all of our Lasallian student body is in one place, to bring them all together and all be friends,” he said.

Though he considered running for other leadership roles, Broudy settled on this position because he wants to increase student participation in school-wide activities such as dressing up during spirit week, something he enjoys personally.

“I always like to be different and dress up, even for sports games,” Broudy said. “I like bringing clothes for my friends so they can also be in the spirit and the theme.”

Currently, he is on La Salle’s track and field team and plays hockey. Here at La Salle, he is hoping to start a chapter of the Distributive Education Clubs of America, an international organization that aims to develop students’ skills in leadership, business, and finance.

As a frequent and enthusiastic participant in school spirit weeks, sophomore Ryan Lengkeek said he feels especially qualified to be an Officer of Spirit.

Next year, Lengkeek’s primary goal is to increase student involvement in various spirit activities, such as pep assemblies, school dances, and spirit weeks, having noticed “decreased participation” since he came to La Salle, he said.

In addition to spirit weeks, Lengkeek is a member of multiple activities at La Salle, including cross country, track and field, swimming, band, speech and debate, and the Pride Alliance. To Lengkeek, school isn’t just a place for academics, and he feels like his new role embodies that deeper involvement.

“[School] is a place to grow as a person and a place to have community just as much as it is a place for academics,” Lengkeek said. “I wanted to be Officer of Spirit because it represents that side of La Salle.”

For sophomore Heremela Solomon, the role of Officer of Inclusion was a definitive first choice.

She’s excited to help plan assemblies, but her biggest goal for next year — and the reason she decided to apply for this position — is to help all of La Salle’s affinity groups gain more exposure in the community. To do this, she wants to look for ways to represent them all that differ from what the leadership team has done in the past.

“Officer of Inclusion means to me being able to represent everyone as a whole, mostly people that can’t represent themselves,” Solomon said. “It’s a way to be like a leader for others and be able to speak up for others who can’t or won’t.”

She feels that the community-driven responsibilities of this position, such as speaking directly to the affinity groups, fit her personality well, as she considers herself a social, talkative person.

For her first year on the leadership council as Officer of Inclusion, sophomore Haylee Nguyen hopes to expand representation for smaller affinity groups and create a more inclusive campus environment. 

“For me, as a minority, I struggle and face a lot of discrimination on campus and a lot of ostracization,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to ever feel that way.”

Being actively involved in several affinity clubs herself, including AAPI, Pride Alliance, and Disability Awareness helps give Nguyen direction to her goals next year. 

She plans to connect directly with these underrepresented groups to understand their personal needs, and encourages affinity groups to approach her if they need help getting started. Nguyen sees Flex Time and assemblies as key strategies to bring awareness to these communities.

This year — his first on the leadership team — junior Liam Darcy helped to plan spirit weeks, design posters using Canva, and create Instagram posts. Wanting to deepen his involvement in the community, Darcy decided to apply for the leadership council.

“I feel like a big part of it is really knowing the student body here at La Salle,” Darcy said. “And I feel like I’ve had a lot of experiences that have given me pretty good insight to what the students want to see from a person in my position.”

Being a member of the boys varsity tennis team helps to give direction to Darcy’s goals as one of next year’s Officers of Communication. Last year, when the varsity boys tennis team won state, he felt like that achievement wasn’t recognized as much as some others that year.

He wants to give more of a spotlight to sports, clubs, and activities that he feels are “underrepresented,” he said, such as the Earth Club, women’s sports, and the arts.

As the social media content creator for La Salle’s ambassador program, junior Abby Baye feels that she’s well-prepared to be one of next year’s Officers of Communication. Looking forward, she wants to represent more activities and groups in La Salle’s social media.

“When the world looks at La Salle, they deserve to see … the whole student body,” Baye said.

According to Baye, while she is very creative, at times, she doesn’t know how to implement her ideas. That’s where her co-officer comes in: while Baye generates ideas, Darcy can synthesize them. She looks forward to working with Darcy, as she feels like their strengths balance each other well.

“We’re both really creative, and I feel like that dynamic can work really well,” Baye said.

To junior Meklit Wondwossen, the role of Officer of Athletics & Arts is “making sure each team and each art program has a platform at the school and [that] students are able to support those programs and be recognized for all the hard work that they do,” she said.

She noted the choir program in particular, using their annual holiday performance at the Grotto as an example.

“It’s a beautiful performance, but nobody knows about it,” she said. “I feel like that’s definitely something that should be highlighted.”

One strategy that Wondwossen is considering to make this happen next year is to talk with some of the leaders within these underrepresented programs at least twice a month to get their perspectives.

“I’m definitely excited to work with other people, get to see more behind the scenes, talk to different people, and learn more about the school and about what people do, because I feel like it truly is important,” Wondwossen said. “It’s something that interests me, and I hope that I can broaden that to the whole student body.”

Though next year will be his first in leadership, junior Jayden Gilbert decided to take the leap to an executive council position after observing and talking to seniors and leadership members Paul Skoro and Trey Williams. He hopes that as an Officer of Athletics and Arts, he can better spotlight underrepresented groups at La Salle.

“I’m hoping I can spread more awareness to the theaters, mainly the plays and concerts,” Gilbert said. “I went to Anastasia, but … I kind of went into it blind, so I’m hoping that I can help bring more attention to them.”

Next year, one officer will be in charge of the arts and the other of athletics for the first semester, before swapping for the second semester. This way, both the arts and athletics will have the complete focus of one of the officers year-round, and they will each get to invest their unique ideas and strategies into both.

“She and I have talked, and we’re both really hyped to get to work with each other,” Gilbert said of co-officer Wondwossen.