“It’s been a personal goal of mine since… eighth grade, to represent the whole school.” That goal was achieved today by Devyn Levin (‘22), who won the election to be student body President at East. She spoke with Eastside for her first interview as President-elect, detailing her plans for her presidency and her path to get to this place.

“I’m very grateful to be able to represent the student body as a whole and I’m also very grateful and thankful that so many people came out to vote for me,” Levin said in her first response to the election win. She said she has been preparing for the job since freshman year and is excited for the chance to represent “so many people.” Levin has been in student government for years. She served as a Senator at Beck Middle School for three years, Vice President of her freshman class, President of her sophomore class, and student body Vice President in her junior year. She also follows in the footsteps of her older sister Madeline Levin (‘18) who served as student body President in her senior year.

Despite her experience, Levin recognized that the student body presidency will be a new experience. She said “Being school president is a lot different from being class president, because [a] class president’s responsibility is trying to get people to events, but mine is more… making sure everyone enjoys their experience and feels heard… As President, that means bringing everyone together.”

Speaking about her agenda, Levin said “My first priority is representing such a diverse school. She referenced her experience as vice president of multicultural day. Levin said she recognizes that there are a lot of cultural groups doing important work. She plans to attend at least one meeting of each cultural group at East. The goal of doing so is to make sure each group is heard, as she said some groups like GSA and the African American Culture Club have great ideas that are not being heard.

Levin said another one of her priorities will be to push her mental health agenda. She wants to create therapist and student-led videos educating students about mental health. She also wants more introductory mental health information to be included in the curriculums of health classes that all students must take at East. Part of the reason she wants to do so is based on her own experience. Levin said that she suffered from OCD since fourth grade, but didn’t find out until high school. She also expressed concerns that other students may face similar circumstances.

“The school system, I feel like, failed me, and never taught me what OCD was,” Levin said.

Another key agenda item for Levin is working on school events. She wants to add new events including battle of the bands, theatre singalong night, and masked singer. She also wants to reintroduce an event that her older sister brought to East, a movie night with food trucks out on the East field.

As Levin prepares to lead East and execute this agenda, she also took a moment to congratulate her competitors in the race for student body President. She said the school would have been in good hands with any one of this year’s Presidential candidates. For now, it will be in hers, as Levin has a year of leadership responsibilities ahead.