Dehong Shanghai has always placed student growth at its core, committed to nurturing leadership and responsibility through diverse platforms. After a highly competitive selection process, the 2026 Student Council Head Students have been officially announced — Kelly from Grade 10, Yuxuan, Chrissy, and Peter from Grade 11 have been elected as the new Head Students of the Student Voice, Global Citizenship, Community, and Wellbeing departments, respectively. Among them are both dedicated practitioners who are deeply involved in various campus activities, and quiet contributors who care deeply for the community and have devoted their efforts to campus development. Their profound understanding of and genuine care for the Dehong community have enabled them to grasp its current needs while holding a rich vision for its future. They aspire to collaborate with their peers to jointly steer the campus toward continuous progress.
The Student Council serves as a key platform for secondary students to practice leadership. It is not only a channel for student expression but also an opportunity to develop independent thinking and courage, encouraging students to turn ideas into action and collectively foster an inclusive and vibrant campus culture. The new Head Students are now ready to embark on their journey, working alongside all Student Council members in the coming year to inject new energy into the Dehong community.
New Stars, Shared Vision
First, let’s hear about their plans for the Student Council and their hopes for personal and community growth!
"The Student Council and its leaders act as ‘communicators’ and ‘bridges’ within the Dehong community. As the Head of Student Voice, my most important mission is to accurately convey the needs and voices of every student. We represent not only ourselves but every student behind us. I hope to make Dehong a more inclusive and warmer place where everyone feels they belong."
——Head Student of the Student Voice Department G10 Kelly
Kelly transferred to Dehong from a public school during her middle school years and joined the Student Voice department last year. Through repeatedly gathering feedback from students across grades, she realized that listening is only the first step — understanding and driving change is the true goal. This year, she stepped into a leadership role not just to listen, but to ensure that reasonable student needs are seen and addressed.
Her decision to lead the Student Voice department aligns with her future interest in humanities and psychology. “I see this role as a practical path toward my future aspirations. Through this experience, I’m not only improving my communication skills but also developing empathy and a deeper understanding of human nature.”
Looking ahead, Kelly envisions the Student Voice department as more than just a “suggestion box.” “I want to turn it into a collaborative platform.” She plans to facilitatethemed discussions and cross-department workshops, helping ideas take shape through dialogue and turning student voices into action.
"As student leaders, we should not only serve as role models but also act as service-oriented leaders with a global perspective. I hope to collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds to address practical challenges within our community, and strive to translate our collective wisdom into sustainable solutions that drive campus progress. I look forward to working with all teachers and students to build a more inclusive and resilient campus, better prepared for future challenges."
——Head Student of the Global Citizenship Department G11 Yuxuan
Yuxuan is a founding student who has grown alongside Dehong since its establishment. He chose to lead the Global Citizenship department because of his strong interest in environmental protection and sustainability, which also connects to his future plans in biology. “Global citizenship is a framework that turns care into action.”
He believes global citizenship should be part of daily campus life. “It includes multiculturalism, sustainability, and environmental protection. Our role is to make these broad concepts tangible and actionable at Dehong.”
This year, Yuxuan plans to launch initiatives like a Campus Sustainability Week and workshops to raise awareness. He also sees this as a two-way growth opportunity—developing his leadership, communication, and time-management skills through service.
"Student leaders are not managers—we are connectors. We bridge the school and students, ensuring every voice is heard, and we weave the social fabric of campus life through events. This year, I hope to grow from a planner into a doer, understanding that leadership is not about control, but about responsibility and long-term empathy."
——Head Student of the Community Department G11 Chrissy
As a founding student, Chrissy believes school should be a warm community where everyone is seen and accepted. Her strength lies in bringing people together—whether organizing house events, working on the yearbook, or serving as a student ambassador. “Seeing students from different grades and backgrounds connect through activities motivates me deeply,” she says.
Regarding the future of the department, Chrissy has a clear and systematic vision. She hopes to further foster connections between different grades and houses, creating more inclusive campus activities. She also places great emphasis on cross-departmental collaboration, aiming to truly integrate a sense of community into all aspects of campus life—academics, arts, sports, and beyond. Rather than seeking control, she focuses on connection; rather than emphasizing the individual, she sees the collective. In Chrissy’s vision, the student community will become a living network that continues to grow and care for one another.
"Student leaders are servants. We listen to the community’s needs and turn them into positive contributions. I aspire to be a practical action-taker, turning ideas for community well-being into reality, ensuring every individual's voice is heard and needs are met. Together, we can create an inclusive, vibrant, and diverse campus that balances academic excellence with physical and mental well-being."
——Head Student of the Wellbeing Department G11 Peter
Peter has been at Dehong since Grade 6. Through roles like co-designing student-inspired courses, leading the school farm, and serving as a house captain, he has built a strong bond with the school. “I feel ready to contribute more,”he says.
In Peter’s view, wellbeing is the foundation of both academic excellence and passionate pursuits. He hopes to create warm, thoughtful activities that help students find balance between academic pressure and daily life, allowing everyone on campus to feel the warmth of being cared for. “My responsibility goes beyond planning events—it includeslistening deeply to students’ real needs, identifying unspoken concerns in the community, communicating with the school administration to move plans forward, and ultimately bringing these ideas to life together with teachers and students.”
Peter shared that in the coming year, the Wellbeing Department will continue classic events such as the Talent Show, Pink Day, and sports competitions, while also launching a series of new initiatives: holiday card-making, handwritten letter exchanges, art therapy workshops, friendship bracelet crafting, student leadership circle activities, and more. He emphasized that his focus is not only on the activities themselves, but also on the sense of care and connection they foster: “Through these diverse forms of engagement, I hope students can maintain excitement and anticipation for life beyond academics, feel seen and supported, and grow with courage and freedom to become who they aspire to be.”
Guidance from Mentors: Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders
On the journey of student leaders’ growth, the school has always been their steadfast support. The role of the Student Council instructors is not that of commanders, but rather guides and supporters—providing systematic and professional guidance at key junctures while fully respecting the students’ autonomy and creativity. They help student leaders learn to balance their responsibilities with their academic pursuits in practice and support them in turning their ideas into actionable plans.
To the four newly appointed Head Students, the two Student Council instructors expressed their congratulations and expectations.
What Dehong has always aimed to cultivate are young individuals who possess both academic strength and principled responsibility. I hope you will carry out your duties as student leaders with clear goals and genuine care. Let your actions be seen, your commitments trusted, and the needs of others taken seriously. Excellent leadership is reflected not only in ideas but even more in daily details: I hope that over the next year, you will learn how to balance studies and responsibilities, how to support your peers, and how to remain composed in the face of challenges… These everyday actions will truly shape your influence and define our shared campus culture.
——Ms. Rebecca Curtin, Deputy Head of SS (Academic)
In your past practices, you have listened attentively, spoken purposefully, and demonstrated empathy, integrity, and a passion for serving others—these are precisely the core qualities of leadership that Dehong values. Please remember that true leadership stems from service, not power. You do not need to have all the answers, but you must approach with an open mind—listening, learning, and acting with sincerity. May you lead your peers with kindness and courage, and we look forward to you leaving a profound mark at Dehong. Even after you graduate and move on to the next stage of life, the positive impact you bring to this community will endure.
——Ms. Cassandra Clark, Deputy Head of SS (Pastoral)
Leadership in Action: Insights from the Student Leadership Conference
Shortly after their appointment, the four Head Students joined other Dehong secondary and elementary students at the annual EiM Student Leadership Conference in Dulwich Puxi, where they joined nearly 100 student representatives from sister schools worldwide for four days of collaboration and skill-building.
For the four new Head Students, this summit was an inspiring journey of growth. They not only broadened their horizons but also gained valuable tools and inspiration that can be directly applied to their future work.
What left the deepest impression on me during this summit was the sharing from Green School in New Zealand, our sister school. Through a special workshop, they vividly demonstrated how humans can coexist with nature and how to balance the relationship between the individual and the environment during the learning process. This inspired me to pay more attention to the connection between the campus and its surrounding ecosystem, as well as the necessity of sustainability in campus activities. Exchanging ideas with sister schools worldwide brought me many creative plans and ideas, and I look forward to introducing feasible elements from them to Dehong in the future, making our campus greener and more vibrant.
——Kelly, Head of Student Voice
The most memorable part of the summit for me was the hands-on simulation of "five-finger scoring deliberation." In this exercise, we discussed several policy proposals. Unlike traditional methods like a "one-vote veto" or a simple show of hands, each person could score a proposal from 0 to 5, with the final decision based on the average score. This method easily quantifies group consensus and efficiently advances agendas, making it highly practical in any scenario requiring quick decisions. My biggest takeaway, however, was a renewed understanding of the power of teamwork. In the past, I often tended to take on most of the work myself in group assignments. But in this collaboration with peers from sister schools, we completed a detailed campus improvement proposal in just two hours, incorporating many details I hadn’t thought of. This deeply made me realize that true leadership lies in inspiring collective wisdom, not in going it alone.
——Yuxuan, Head of Global Citizenship
The summit’s discussion on "how to integrate well-being into academic life" gave me much to reflect on. Many of my peers emphasized that the success of an activity lies not in its surface-level excitement, but in the lasting value it leaves for participants. My greatest takeaway was realizing that outstanding student leaders are not necessarily the most outgoing or dazzling individuals in a crowd, but they must know how to listen, reflect, and act courageously. In the coming year of work, I will also place greater emphasis on listening to the genuine needs of my classmates, focusing on follow-up feedback and continuous improvement of activities, rather than just pursuing results that "look successful."
——Chrissy, Head of Community Department
The MISO activity at the summit really caught my attention. "Miso" originally refers to miso soup, but at this summit, it represented a framework for planning activities—MISO stands for Media, Interview, Student Voice, and Observation, providing us with clear guidelines for systematic activity planning. Together with student leaders from sister schools, we discussed practical topics such as effective presentation strategies and the ethical dilemmas leaders may face. I also gathered many interesting activity ideas from everyone, such as holiday flower deliveries, color runs. These will serve as inspiration for me to plan more personalized and warm-hearted campus activities.
——Peter, Head of Wellbeing Department
This Student Leadership Conference provided student leaders with a valuable platform to exchange and collaborate with outstanding peers and educators. Through cross-cultural exchange of ideas, they not only broadened their leadership perspectives and gained practical strategies and inspiration but also gathered momentum to put their ideas into action. This experience will motivate them to apply what they learned at the summit to the specific context of their school, driving practical progress in the campus community over the coming year.
Multiple Stages, Cultivating Future Leaders
At Dehong Shanghai, leadership development is woven into everyday campus life. Through a structured, progressive system—including roles like class representatives, house captains, student ambassadors, and QiDi leaders—every student can find opportunities to take responsibility and create impact. Mentorship, leadership workshops, and weekly leadership lunches further support students in authentic settings. Dehong focuses not only on academic success but also on developing the skills needed to thrive in a future global society.
We look forward to seeing the 2026 Head Students bring vision, innovation, and action to our community, and we encourage every Dehong student to discover their leadership potential—growing through service and shining through creativity, together writing a brilliant chapter for the Dehong community.
