Right next to the school entrance, in the Lower School Lobby, hang portraits of figures such as Nelson Mandela, Jackie Robinson and Mother Teresa, some of the first things a visitor sees upon entering the Lower School.
Since 2008, the Lower School has selected one famous figure every year that embodies the values of character and leadership that are emphasized at St. Mark’s.
“We’re trying to use our Character and Leadership program to think about people in the world that we admire, specifically, who the students admire, to show the importance of the Character and Leadership qualities that we value here at St. Mark’s,” Lower School Librarian Kaysie Montgomery said.
This year, the Lower School selected Jane Goodall as their newest appointee.
At the start of each year, students begin researching potential nominees for the Leadership Wall by reading biographies, searching databases and learning about famous figures in both homeroom and in the library.
Later, students go over their research and have the option to nominate someone by filling out a form, stating why they believe the nominee represents the qualities St. Mark’s emphasizes.
After the Lower School finalizes a list of nominations, all students vote on who they would like to select for the Leadership Wall. This year, the voting required a runoff between Isaac Newton, Amelia Earhart and Goodall, where ultimately, Goodall won.
Upon her selection, the Lower School reviewed the list of students who nominated her and selected one student from each grade to present to the entire Lower School in the Annual Leadership Wall Assembly.
The four students selected to present — first-grader Satya Patel, second-grader Adrian Zhang, third-grader Peter Vachon and fourth-grader Carter Chang — spent two weeks preparing a presentation for the assembly, supplemented by a slideshow about Goodall created by Montgomery.
The four students each presented on one-quarter of her life, Patel starting by discussing her childhood and Chang finishing with the end of her life.
“I nominated Jane Goodall because she spent almost her whole life sacrificing things to help chimpanzees,” Zhang said. “She had to go through a lot of hard stuff, but she always survived.”
The selection of Goodall this year is unique because in 1990, Goodall came to St. Mark’s to talk about her life.
“We thought her selection was extra special this year, because it’s so rare to have somebody on the Leadership Wall, since they’re so global, that has actually been to our school,” Montgomery said.
Goodall will join the last 11 appointees on the wall, and Mandela will move to the Lower School Library.
“Along with representing leadership, one of the coolest things about the Leadership Wall is that if a 12-year senior comes to the wall, he will see all of the people appointed during his time at St. Mark’s,” Lower School Administrative Assistant Kathy Mallick said.
