The coffeehouse initiative’s purpose is to organize events where students can share different kinds of talents. Whether the student’s talent be singing, poetry, or playing an instrument, we want them at one of our coffeehouses! We had a great first coffeehouse of the year and look forward to organizing at least one more for the spring! Our initiative is headed by Macri Leanza and Sam Tausner. We look forward to planning future events and seeing you there!

This initiative is meant to bring many different, new, and fun foods to the school to broaden our palates. Our goal is to bring excitement and new foods to the student body once a month. We will do this by providing a service that allows students access to local restaurants and businesses. The initiative is headed by Lexi Altirs, Ally Abramson, and Alexa Kobre. In a normal school year, the Food Initiative also works with the school’s lunch service to make improvements to the program that will satisfy the student body. We suggest changes to the menu and other dining options to optimize the dining experience at Dwight-Englewood. We also suggest new items in the COOP and have gotten items such as Soft Pretzels and new ice creams. Going forward, we would love to hear student suggestions on how we can enhance the lunch program from where it already is.

The STAR is a very important initiative on student government. The initiative leader is Ary Gummakonda and the other members of STAR are Jaimie Qu, Adam Trencher, Jack Sauma, Kristen DeRoche, and Josh Greene.  The STAR’s mission is to focus on how to improve every student’s academic experience. In the past STAR has adjusted the midterm and exam schedule and has planned college counseling meetings with the underclassmen.

The Candy Canes and Roses initiative has not happened during the 2020 – 2021 school year because of the virtual format. Typically, Candy Cane sales take place during the holiday season and Rose sales happen during Valentines Day week. New leaders will be chosen in the next year.

The tech initiative strives to fix and combat and technical issues that the student body faces. We have been directly responsible for unblocking numerous social media sites, have posted forms on MyDE, as well as staying in constant communication with Mr. Shaw, the director of the Tech Department. We are currently working on adding grades to MyDE, creating an online-sign in platform, and adding Apple Pay/Credit Cards to the coop. We expect these goals to be put in action by the end of the year. If you have any questions, please reach out to the Head of the Tech Initiative, Jack Kobre, or the vice-treasurer/community outreach coordinator, Yuri Bychkov.

The Maintenance Initiative strives to improve student life by understanding what physical issues pertain to the students. We advocate for the student body’s concerns for their campus, especially those that are not of utmost importance to the administration. In past years the Maintenance Initiative has improved the Klein bathroom facilities, been instrumental in the addition of different classroom products, and worked alongside the maintenance crew to improve the water fountains. This coming year, plans to remodel the Leggett bathrooms have been discussed, as well as continually addressing past projects along with the upkeep of the school. Lilah Gymrek and Franki Gallo are leading this initiative.

The Informant initiative is in charge of maintaining the Informant website and managing the suggestions box. Every week members update the website with meeting notes. The current members are Catalina Mahe and Chloe Jacobson.

The Dialogue Initiative is a new initiative in the 2020-2021 year. It’s purpose is to stimulate conversation among the student body about important social issues in a casual, understanding environment. A significant value is teaching the difference between dialogue and debate, so students can have productive exchanges of ideas. This year, led by Sofia Bella Huie Pasigan and Jason Boyd, the first dialogue on Cancel Culture occurred and was a huge success.

The Assembly Reform initiative is a new initiative in the 2020 – 2021 school year. This initiative’s goal is to have discussions about bringing new and engaging speakers to Dwight-Englewood. The members are Ryan Lee and Sofia Bella Huie Pasigan.