Co - Chair Candidate Interviews (Middle school)

Written by Keira Gardner-Ross, 03/30/2025

Zach Weinberg 

1.  What makes you stand out compared to the other chair candidates?

My spirit, dedication, and mindset are what make me stand out from my fellow competitors. As a House Head, I ensure events are spirited, engaging, and welcoming, creating an atmosphere where everyone feels excited to participate. As a Speech and Debate captain, I’ve shown my commitment, by running weekly meetings, coaching students, and helping our team thrive. I will bring this dedication to the Student Council—working tirelessly to make initiatives both well-organized and genuinely fun for our entire school. Additionally, I approach challenges with an open and optimistic mindset, always hearing different perspectives making every student feel heard. I want to create events and initiatives that everyone enjoys, and make our school a more connected and spirited community. My passion, leadership, and ability to turn ideas into action are what set me apart.

2.What inspired you to run for chair?

Ever since I joined York in grade 9, I’ve wanted to make a real difference in school life. To me, that looks like building an atmosphere where students genuinely enjoy their time at school, where they feel encouraged and excited to participate in events, connected to both to our community, and inspired to contribute to our school life. I believe the role of Chair is the best way to make that vision a reality. It’s the one position that allows me to have the most widespread impact, bringing people together, enriching school spirit, and ensuring that every student feels heard and included. That’s why I’m running—to make our school a place where everyone feels engaged, valued, and proud to be part of the York community.

3. How do you further improve the middle school experience? 

As the head of the Middle School Debate Club, I’ve been able to work closely with many middle school students across various grades for the past two years. This experience has given me valuable insight into what middle school life is like and where it can be improved. If elected Chair, I would make it a priority to amplify the voices of middle schoolers, creating a space where they feel comfortable speaking their minds. I’m committed to addressing these issues and making meaningful changes.

There are two things I would do to improve the middle school experience. Firstly, I want to redesign the Learning Commons. By introducing new furniture, decorations, and activities, I believe we can transform the space into something similar to the high school wellness center—a welcoming environment where students can relax, focus, and have a little more privacy. Secondly, I want to strengthen the connections between grades, helping middle school students feel more connected to their high school peers-especially grade eight moving into high school next year. One way to do this is by introducing intramural games, where middle and high school students could play sports like soccer, basketball, and volleyball on the same team during lunch. This initiative would not only be fun but would also help bring middle and high school students closer. 

Soleil Weis

1)  What makes you stand out compared to the other chair candidates?

I think what makes me different from other candidates is that I just want everyone at York to have a fun time! If I were to become chair, I would try my best to make your a fun environment where everyone can be themselves.

2) What inspired you to run for chair candidates?

I wanted to become chair because I love coming up with unique ideas to improve different aspects of school, whether that be with spirit, wellbeing etc. Chair is a great position to showcase your own ideas and those from people around you. I want to become chair so I can advocate for everybody’s visions, to ensure that everyone feels excited to go to school.

3) How do you further improve the middle school experience? 

As chair I would want to communicate with the middle schoolers and get their feedback for what they want to see. I understand that the middle schoolers are really passionate about getting chairs, and while I know that I am unable to give everybody chairs, I do have some ideas for that. I was thinking we could do more middle schooler challenges, like toons for tunies and door decorating contests, but instead of getting a pizza party or casual day as a prize we could give the winning class a row of chairs for an assembly or two! This is just one of my potential ideas for the middle school. I also want to branch out and talk frequently with the mentors. As current mentor coordinator, I have a grasp at what some of the middle schoolers want to see, and I think it would be a great way to implement activities that the middle schoolers want to see through mentoring. 

Elizabeth Kotze

1)  What makes you stand out compared to the other chair candidates?

Something that makes me stand out compared to the other candidates is my past leadership experience. Unlike the other candidates, I’ve been on student council since I was in grade 6. I’ve also had many different leadership roles (you can go check on my slide). This has given me the opportunity to learn and grow as a leader. I’m very familiar with how student council works, so I know that I have the experience and knowledge it takes to run for chair. Organizing assemblies, speaking in front of a crowd, working with a team, are all things I’m familiar with. When you get a vote on Wednesday, just remember my past experience will allow me to be an amazing chair for our school.

2) What inspired you to run for chair?

What inspired me to run for chair was wanting to be a role model for younger students. As an older sibling, grade 8 conversations and connections leader, and middle school debate captain, being a leader for younger students has always been a goal of mine. I also think that I bring a lot of positive energy to our community and as chair, I can create a positive school environment due to the positive energy I embody. These are two of many reasons that have encouraged me to run for this role. 

3) How do you further improve the middle school experience? 

I will further improve the middle school experience by scheduling meetings to collab with the middle school student council. This way, any time that I want to make changes for the middle school: I can meet with the middle school student council and actually create change. These organized meetings can help increase the middle school student voice. I’ve mentioned in my Q&A that I wanna add organized soccer tournaments on the turf for middle school. And I’m open to any other suggestions of sports. Additionally, I know it can be hard sometimes to go up to a high school student as a middle school student however I’m very approachable and open to talking to anybody. Don’t be afraid if you ever have any questions for me or if you just need advice (I’ve been through middle school so I can help out a lot!!)

Max Safir

1) What makes you stand out compared to the other chair candidates?

One of the traits about me as a person that I think will really highlight me as a co chair is that I really enjoy getting to know other people. Over the long time that I’ve been at this school, especially recently, I’ve gotten to know the interests, wants, and opinions of many people. Although, as co chair, one of my main priorities would be to reach out to people past grade 11 and grade 12.

2) What inspired you to run for chair candidates?

What inspired me is how much a strong community can make a change. The connection that I notice among, especially our grade recently, is something that I really enjoy and think is beneficial on so many levels, whether stress, balance, or spirit. I really hope that all the initiatives I plan for next year can help bring the school together just as close. I really hope that next year I can make a real difference, because I want to give back to the school.

3) How do you further improve the middle school experience?

Unfortunately, I cannot promise chairs yet :/ BUT, I have a lot of other things to offer. I’ve heard from a lot of middle schoolers that sometimes there are some homeroom periods where content is covered and there's some extra time! So, one of the many things planned is to bring more mornings to bring grades together, such as giving time on the turf/in the gym, watching movies, more sleep-ins, etc.

Judah Baratz

1. What makes you stand out compared to the other chair candidates?

What makes me stand out as a chair candidate is my extensive leadership experience within The York School community giving me a well-rounded vision of York. I’ve held leadership roles on the Student Council as a three-time homeroom representative, but my leadership experience extends beyond just Student Council. As Founder and President of the Health Science Club, I’ve demonstrated the ability to organize, collaborate with external organizations, and create meaningful initiatives. My experience as a two-time student mentor, a member of the Belonging and Outreach Committee, and a four-time student ambassador shows my consistent commitment to building a stronger, more inclusive community. Additionally, my leadership in varsity sports, debate, robotics, and volunteer work reflects my dedication to a wide range of school experiences, making me uniquely equipped to represent the diverse needs of students as Chair. Overall, I have demonstrated that I am committed to all aspects of student life, and I stand out by taking leadership roles everywhere in our school community.

2. What inspired you to run for chair candidates?

I’ve wanted to run for Chair for a long time. Having been at York since Grade 6, I’ve had an incredibly positive experience which can largely be attributed to the role models I’ve had, many of whom were effective Student Life Co-Chairs. Seeing their dedication to creating a more engaging and connected school community inspired me to follow in their footsteps. Now, with years of leadership experience and a deep understanding of our school’s culture, I’m eager to give back by creating meaningful initiatives and hopefully act as a role model for younger students.

3. How do you further improve the middle school experience?

As a Chair candidate that is a middle school alumnus, I have a genuine understanding of what middle schoolers need. On top of that, my experience as a two-time Student Mentor has given me direct insight into the challenges and interests of middle school students. One of my main goals is to ensure that middle schoolers have an equal voice in our community. Leading up to my campaign, as early as the beginning of March, I actively campaigned in the middle school and had many conversations with students during their lunch time, demonstrating my commitment to listening and acting on your ideas. Based on many of your requests, I’ll advocate for greater equity in assembly seating by advocating for more comfortable seating options or introducing seating rewards for grade-wide events. Additionally, many middle school students have voiced that they would like to see different cafetiera options that reflect their preferences, so I will introduce a cafeteria request form at the beginning of every term.

Jojo Hill

1) What makes you stand out compared to the other chair candidates?

The main thing that stands out is that I was a true outsider when I came to York. I moved from Hong Kong at the beginning of Grade 9, so I wasn't just new to York, but to Toronto as a whole. I understand what it's like to feel submerged in a completely unfamiliar environment as I tried to find exactly where I fit in at York. That experience shaped me into someone who values a welcoming and inclusive community, which inspired me to run and be appointed as Director of Student Belonging and Community Outreach for this school year. My perspective as an outsider and an insider has given me skills to envision a version of York where everyone has the chance to thrive.

2) What inspired you to run for chair candidates?

What inspired me to run for Chair is that I have been told I have solid leadership skills and an ability to find compromises works with everyone. I had so much fun being a part of student council this year that I wanted to still experience that for my last year at York, as well as taking on extra challenges and responsibility. 

3) How do you further improve the middle school experience? 

As someone who has only been at this school for high school, I have always felt disconnected with the middle school, which I assume is something shared with you guys too. If I am elected Chair, I will try my best to integrate the two sections, with school activities being more tailored to bringing people from other grades together. I understand that it is intimidating to talk to those in the upper grades, but with more frequent opportunities to connect with them, I can see an enhanced school community soon! Also, if you guys have any suggestions, do not feel scared to reach out!! I'm trying my best to be a candidate who listens to the community, so please feel free to email me or come up to me in the halls and suggest what I could do for you to improve the middle school experience.