On the first morning of a new Westridge school year, campus is buzzing. Rows of folding chairs line the Quad as students flood in to take their seats. As per annual tradition, both the Head of School and the ASB president address the entire Westridge community in their Convocation speeches. While we come to expect these speeches, how are they crafted, and how do they serve Westridge as a school and community?

Head of School Ms. Andera Kassar has a similar process when crafting her speech each year. Ms. Kassar looks back on her conversations with student leadership and fellow employees at the summer faculty and staff retreat to find a common theme to guide goals for the year ahead. 

Additionally, Ms. Kassar, like many, spends her summer catching up on reading. She identifies compelling concepts from across articles and books and ties them together in a way that coincides with the goals Westridge leadership had been devising.

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s memoir, A Different Kind of Power, and American political commentator Chris Hayes’ book, A Sirens’ Call, were some of the key pieces of literature that she tied into her 2025 Convocation speech. 

“[The books] helped me to think a little bit about framing the speech around art and around feelings and emotions and the body,” Ms. Kassar said. 

Ms. Kassar’s speech detailed the effect that art of all kinds has on the viewer or reader and why it is important to be in touch with your emotions and body especially when the larger world feels so heavy. “I’m trying to set a tone for the year. I’m trying to capture both the moment for us at Westridge, but also touch on the world around us,” she said. “I want it to feel optimistic, since it’s the start of the school year, while also being realistic about things that are challenging.”

ASB President Micaela R. ’26 has a different perspective as a student and ‘lifer.’ Both experiences played a pivotal role in her approach to writing her speech. “The only convocation speech I really remember was when I was younger, and I remember that speech being about…school being one with each other… that was my main idea. I just wanted something that I was excited about, that was familiar to me,” said Micaela.

While Ms. Kassar and Micaela’s methods differ, they both faced the challenge of writing a speech that appealed to fourth graders, seniors, parents, staff, and everyone in between. 

One of Ms. Kassar’s favorite parts of her role as Head of School is talking with people from all walks of life; this makes the impossible task of crafting a speech for the whole community exhilarating for her.

Ms. Kassar tries to welcome the fourth graders and other new Lower Schoolers so they feel recognized amid the chaos and newness of the first day. All while making a point of centering seniors in their final year, aiming to make them feel celebrated and special. 

“At the start, [I] ask questions. I found that I’ve done that for the last few years about the themes that I’ll be exploring, and I try to ask them of fourth and fifth graders… and then maybe I’ll throw in a question to seniors too,” she said.

Micaela makes sure everyone is included by using language that is applicable to every Westridge student, new and old.

“[I speak in a] basic sort of tone so that kids can grasp what I was saying, but at the same time their parents and faculty and staff could understand,” she said.

Another complicated aspect of Convocation speeches is trying to ensure that the school spirit and values exhibited in the address continue to guide students and the community throughout the duration of the year. 

This year, ASB is working to implement initiatives and events to boost school spirit that are to keep morale high, and according to Ms. Kassar, help us remember our common purpose as Westridge students, even when the workload increases. 

“…as the year goes on, there are challenges that happen outside that we can’t control, homework hits,” she said. “People get tired, and that feeling of newness can start to abate. I think it just means that we have to be all the more intentional [about school spirit]”

The thought and intention that goes into both convocation speeches is reflective of the care and responsibility Ms. Kassar and Micaela have for making everyone feel welcome and excited for the year to come. Their speeches might feel redundant or their goals too ambitious, especially the more you attend, but it is important to recognize how Convocation speeches transition us back into a school mindset. They are written with the intention of improving individual and communal experiences at Westridge by motivating students to look at the year ahead with new insight, while also bridging the gap between conversations happening in the larger world and Westridge as a small school.