Persistent “26” chants for the Senior Class of 2026 reverberated throughout the Cochran Chapel as Andover held its annual first All-School Meeting (ASM) ceremony. Celebrating the start of the 2025-2026 school year, the ASM featured opening remarks from Head of School Dr. Raynard Kington, Dean of Students Susan Esty, and Student Body Co-Presidents Gracie Aziabor ’26 and Philip Meng ’26.
Chanting the graduation year for the Senior class is a much anticipated tradition during the first ASM of the year. David Porto ’26 is one Senior who reflected on the transition from being an observer of the tradition to taking part in it. Entering his last year at Andover, Porto reflected on the words of Sebastian Lemberger ’25, one of last year’s Senior remarks speakers.
“It was pretty crazy. Being the people that cheer, doing the hand sign, and having all the jokes during the speeches about [the number] 26 was totally a full circle moment. Last year it was 25, so that was pretty iconic, and I felt pretty crazy to be in that position. [I] want to emphasize the same things that previous speakers have said, like Sebastian Lemberger’s ’25 Senior remarks. It was really powerful and as you’re [entering] the Andover community, [it’s important] to try new things and experiment. That’s really important and it can really define your Andover journey,” said Porto.
Flag bearing is another notable aspect of Andover’s first ASM ceremonies. The first to enter the chapel, students represent their home countries by carrying the flags of their home countries, propping them in a circle on stage. Dean Vaitsos ’27 commented on the flagbearing, noting that the various flags increased the sense of community within the school.
“I found the flag bearing ceremony in the beginning to be really interesting as it always is every year. I really like to see all of the flags. It brings the community together… It’s really interesting to see all the flags of every single country where people are from, because if you don’t know someone, you can still see their flag and you can recognize where they’re from. Also, even if you’re not an international student, if you’re from that culture, you can still identify with a flag,” said Vaitsos.
As an incoming Junior, for Eileen Zhu ’29, the first ASM was a completely new experience. Expecting the ASM to be primarily informational, she was surprised by the intensity and energy during the event.
“I felt very excited. My heart was beating really fast, especially when the drums started. [It was] really exciting. I don’t know how to start, but it was a little bit nerve wracking, too. I mean, getting to see all these really talented people sitting in one building, all together. I also was really impressed by the class of 26’s cheers. They were very loud and it’s great that they’re very enthusiastic. They all felt really close to their class,” said Zhu.
Following faculty speeches, two student representatives from the New International Student Orientation (NISO) took to the stage. Melissa de Souza ’28, a new lower from Brazil, described the impact of her experience in becoming a presenter and addressing the student body.
“[My friends] thought this would be a good opportunity to bring representation from Brazil and from Latino countries to the meeting… I would have the opportunity to be on the stage with the group presidents, the school faculty and all the important people at school. [My speech] came a lot from my heart and what I felt at the time. We come from such different places, and we’re going to have cultural shocks,” said de Souza.
Johannes Hotze ’26, a new Senior and the other member of the NISO representation, recounted how he felt about immersing himself in the Andover community for the first time, as well as the impact of the NISO program.
“I thought, why not take this opportunity to speak in public and get to know more people through that? It’s also an honor. I thought about what I felt when I came here—this overwhelming new country and all the new people. Being proud of being in this big important community. The world partners and during NISO, the people we get to know and the bonds we create, even before school starts so that we always know people in everyday life we can talk to,” said Hotze.
