Annabel Zaterka ‘26 and Ivy Song ‘26
Every year, eight rising sixth-form students are selected to become monitors, who serve as the bridge between students and faculty. They hold the community together by running school events, voicing the concerns of students to faculty, and spreading school spirit. This year's monitors have done an exceptional job of both meeting and exceeding the expectations of monitors, but it is time for a change. The eight new monitors have been selected for the 2025-2026 school year. The whole school voted for who they believed would best represent the school. After a tight race, Bleu Kerr, Ellie Tesoro, Mae Bartlett, MJ Fisher, Elijah Abraham, Ian Cho, Phoenix Whitaker, and Seedi Sheriff have been selected.
The following interviews discuss their hopes for next year and provide an introduction to who they are and how they hope to impact the school.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MJ Fisher is a day student from Westborough, Massachusetts, and a fun fact about her is that she loves making friendship bracelets and birthday cards for her friends. Her guilty pleasure is listening to Post Malone. Here's a little about MJ:
What are you most excited about next year?
I am most excited about Groton Night and doing the Groton Night dance. I am also super excited to plan the Neon Dance.
What is your favorite school event or tradition?
I think my favorite school event is probably Coffee House because it's not as big as SMAF (St. Mark’s Art Festival), but it allows students, especially freshmen, to perform and express themselves. Next year, I want to promote the event more to the community so people will want to perform and show up for the community.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish by the end of next year?
Hopefully by the end of next year, I know where I am going to college, but on another note, I want to make this community feel more connected, and make sure everyone feels like they have a place where they belong and feel supported.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bleu Kerr is a boarding student from Boston, Massachusetts. Her favorite class she has been in is Human Health and Disease, and her favorite memory from her time at St. Mark’s was the Friday Night Lights volleyball game this past Fall. Let’s hear a little about Bleu.
What is your favorite school event or tradition?
One of my favorite school events is Groton Night in the winter because the whole school comes together as one and has fun.
Who were the previous monitors you looked up to and why?
Meredith, Ife, and Jared were three monitors I got close to this year and for Meredith, she was my basketball captain and she expressed her leadership both on and off the monitor platform and in general, they are all just good people and showed me that I can be myself while in a leadership position.
What is the best advice that you have received?
My mom always told me that whatever is for you is for you, and it will come in good time. I like that advice because I am sometimes someone who compares myself to other people and look at others like, “Dang they got it, where is mine?” or “They are getting these offers where are my offers?” but my mom always tells me “Bleu, just keep doing your hard work and eventually the offers will come when they need to come.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mae Bartlett is a boarding student from New York, and she is part of an a cappella group at St. Mark’s. She loves sailing, and her favorite memory from her time at school was the New Student Orientation Chapel. Here is a little about Mae:
What are you most excited about next year?
I am really excited to work with all the monitors and Dr. Hills and communicate a lot of the ideas I have because I really care about other St. Mark’s students and realize a lot of things that can be improved on campus, so I look forward to working with everyone to make it happen.
What is your favorite school event?
I like Songfest, and I think it is really special because, although it may seem like forced family fun, it is super exciting and everyone loves it. My dorm won this year, which was a great dorm bonding moment, and it is just a great event in general because all the dorms come together and put a lot of effort into it, and everyone looks forward to the event every year.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish by the end of next year?
One thing I hope to accomplish is that people are excited to be at St. Mark’s, and there is a shift in mindset for students so that they feel that they want to come to campus and be with their peers and attend events. On a smaller level, I want to make one new all-school event that everyone goes to, like a dance or competition.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ellie Tesoro is a day student from Westborough, Massachusetts. A fun fact is that Ellie has run two half marathons, and her favorite memory was when she spelled the word ‘venom’ wrong at an all-school meeting. Let’s hear a little about Ellie:
What are you most excited about next year?
What I am most excited about for the upcoming year is creating a lasting impact on St. Mark’s with my fellow monitors and making sure that our overall mission to make sure that everyone feels like St. Mark’s is their place is achieved because it is such a small community and I want to make sure everyone knows how vital their presence is at our school.
What is one thing you would change about St. Mark’s?
One thing I would change about St. Mark's would be to bring back the community engagement that we had before COVID-19. I want to do this by really bringing the energy to the school meeting and maybe bringing back a randomized seated meal, which will ensure that students are making connections with others outside of their normal social groups, which will bring everyone together.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish by the end of next year?
I received a grant with Annabel Zaterka to go to the Best Buddies Leadership Conference this summer, and we are hoping to add something to the Social Justice course curriculum, integrate disability advocacy into the course, and expand our Best Buddies chapter on campus.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phoenix Whitaker is a boarding student from Westfield, Massachusetts, and a fun fact about him is that he knows how to play volleyball. His favorite memory from his time at St. Mark’s is playing spikeball and going out to dinner with his friends. Here is a little about Phoenix:
What is one thing you hope to accomplish by the end of next year?
Personally, by the end of next year, I hope to know where I am going to college, and hopefully, I will be playing football at the next level. As a monitor, I just want to plan a lot of events for people to participate in, such as spikeball tournaments and pep rallies, so that students want to stay on campus over the weekend.
What is the best advice that you have received?
My mom always tells me that everything happens for a reason, and I feel like that is a great piece of advice because when something happens that makes you frustrated or you think it shouldn’t have happened, just knowing that everything happens for a reason shows that there is something greater for you ahead. As a monitor, I know that if we ever hit a roadblock or make mistakes, I know to keep moving forward and not let mistakes frustrate me.
What is a new tradition you would like to start at St. Mark’s?
I would like to have a spring pep rally, color wars, or spirit week to get everyone excited. I also would like to start a Powderpuff at St. Mark’s, which is a female flag football competition, because I coached it at my old school, and it was so much fun to be a part of, so I would love to start that here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elijah Abraham is a boarding student from Houston, Texas. A fun fact about him is that he is learning to do a backflip, and his favorite class this year was anatomy and physiology. Here is a little about Elijah:
What are you most excited about next year?
I’m really excited about taking initiative, especially by advocating for students. I consider myself a pretty passionate person. I am always willing to listen and always ready to speak out. When I hear people express worry about a specific problem they are facing with a teacher or an issue surrounding their grades, or if they feel they don’t have a place, I have always cared about that kind of stuff. So, I'm very excited to be able to use the connections I have, like those with Dr. Hill's office and the Dean's office. I'm eager to discuss ways to improve things for individual students experiencing similar issues and to utilize the resources I have available to best support those around me.
Who was a monitor in your St. Mark's career that had a big impact on you?
I think about Ife right now; she's a monitor who has influenced me a lot. I see her putting in a lot of effort behind the scenes. Even if it doesn't show, I know she's worked hard. She has inspired me to really go for the monitor role and not give up on making a positive change at this school. I've always cared about making a difference.
What's the best piece of advice you ever received?
I think my best piece of advice that I've heard is probably from my little brother, who has also gone to boarding school now. I care about him a lot, and he's always telling me that you really have to listen to the people around you, right? You have to care about the people next to you.
In that way, he's reminded me that positions of leadership are not these big pedestals. They don't elevate you above those you serve; instead, you're meant to serve the community around you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ian Cho is a boarding student from Seoul, South Korea, and his favorite memory from his time at St. Mark’s was playing basketball with his friends on West Campus and Elkins Gym on the weekends. Let’s hear a little about Ian:
What are you most excited about next year?
Dr Kopp and the current monitors have already laid a strong foundation for increasing community engagement opportunities at St. Mark’s. Recognizing its value, I hope to expand such opportunities to athletic teams and experiential learning to foster collaboration, teamwork, and empathy. Also, I am passionate about ensuring AI literacy and facilitating discourse on AI in education. I hope to establish a student and faculty AI committee that meets to share perspectives on how AI tools should be used to enhance, rather than hinder, education.
What is the best advice that you have received?
The best piece of advice I received was to advocate for myself. At school, we will face challenges and hardships, academically or socially. Freshman year, I used to try to overcome struggles solely on my own. However, whether it is asking for extensions on assignments or asking my trusted friends how to approach a difficult conversation, I realized that communicating with others helps me navigate through hardships. As monitors, we will foster a community where all students are comfortable in communicating struggles or frustrations and can recognize that there are adults and peers in the community willing to help them out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seedi Sheriff is a boarding student from Worcester, Massachusetts. He loves playing football and wrestling, and his favorite memory from his time at St. Mark’s is spending time with his friends. Here is a little about Seedi:
What are you most excited about next year?
I’m really excited for the first school meeting/monitor-led event. This is because I hope to set the tone for the rest of the school year and make people excited to come to big school events.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish by the end of next year?
Something I want to accomplish is more participation in activities or events.
What is a new tradition you would like to start at St. Mark’s?
One thing I might want to add in our traditions or the way that we live a St. Marks is trying to get more people to get involved in community service in communities around St. Marks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Mark’s is so excited to see the impact the new monitors will have on the community. Congratulations to Bleu, Ellie, Mae, MJ, Elijah, Ian, Phoenix, and Seedi, and good luck!