Congratulations to all our class presidents. I had the honor of speaking with senior class president, Diane K, to hear about her plans for our school. This will be Diane’s fourth year at GWUOHS and, like most of us, she transitioned to online school during the pandemic. She wanted a smooth transition to high school with a stable and fulfilling education which she was able to find at GWUOHS.

When asked why Diane decided to run for president she said, “I never was able to before.” She continued to share how freshmen hadn’t had many leadership roles and thought she wasn’t best prepared to take one. Diane couldn’t participate in a leadership role her sophomore year, and her junior year was spent living abroad.

“There were too many scheduling conflicts,” she explained.

Now that she’s back home in Rhode Island, she wants to be more involved with the Student Council. Diane wants to be an advocate for her class, especially those who are abroad. As an international student herself, one of Diane’s hopes is to make a more inclusive environment for students not in the States. Another thing that she wants to advocate for is an in-person graduation for her in-state students.

“We want to walk across the stage to get our diploma,” Diane commented.  In previous years, GWUOHS had an in-person graduation but because of the pandemic, the graduations have been Online. Diane hopes that her advocacy will lead to in-person graduation opportunities for future graduating classes.

She is not only president of the 12th grade class, but is also involved with peer mentoring, the school newspaper, and holds leadership positions in both the Global Cafe and Law Club. She believes that it’s important for students to be social and active in their school community.

“Be interactive,” Diane said. This is something that has helped make her high school experience enjoyable.