Feet under the desk, energised, and clad in green and gold blazers; it is the ambitious Waimea College’s seven head students for 2026.
They were all in seventh heaven when they opened their letters late last year confirming they had been selected for the coveted leadership positions.
For Santiago Ward it has been quite the meteoric rise to power considering 2025 was his first time being educated outside home.
Echoing the head students' reactions to their appointments, he says he is honoured to help lead the roughly 1600 enrolled students in only his second year roaming any school grounds.
“I really clicked with Waimea College. It was a great decision… and Waimea proved to me that it has a really good balance between the social aspect, the academic aspect, and the arts aspect,” he rejoices.
Santiago will be working closely with fellow head students Bruno Richards, Dominique Tatimoana, Hailey Muller, Madeline Seymour, Sophie McKeever and Zach Latham to get each student exceeding their potential, whether that be in sport, the arts, academics, or cultural activities.
The figureheads all have plans up their blazer sleeves to leverage these areas as well.
“Because [Waimea is] so huge, there is a community formed around so many different areas, and you can jump between so many different groups," Bruno enthuses.
“A special thing that we need to show people who might be hesitant is to not participate because they're worried that they might not be good enough or might not actually get the benefits they want, it’s more the bonds and the joy that you get out of the groups,” Madeline says.
Hailey says collaboration would enable collective and individual plans to land.
“The best way to actually carry out all the plans that we have individually is working together to make them happen, because I think, as we have seen from the few things we have run, it really is easier if we all just communicate together and make it happen together, she says.
Hailey says the wraparound support from staff and classmates, especially when the pressure mounts, makes the college tick.
Madeline remarks that this support underpins the culture they want to strengthen.
“My favourite part about Waimea is I'm good friends with so many of my teachers… and walking around school, partially because I am involved in a lot of different corners of Waimea through sport and academic things, but there's always someone, as they walk past, who will say hi to you,” she says.
“A really important part of being a head student is making connections, particularly with the younger students around the school, to uplift them.”
