Best friends Padmesh Jayaprakash and Abhijith Rajeev are the first co-presidents of their high school orchestra program, after students changed the leadership structure to let candidates share the role. The seniors, who have played violin in the program since sixth grade, are focused on bringing students from different orchestras together through a relaunched mentoring program and more social events. They also hope to organize fundraisers to help reduce participation costs.

By the Numbers
  • 31 cross-orchestra student families have been formed.
  • More than 100 students attended a recent picnic.
  • The orchestra has a 14-member officer team.
  • The campaign video took about 12 hours to make, plus around 8 hours of editing.
Yes, But

The co-presidents’ plans are ambitious, and some initiatives—such as the mentoring program—have struggled to gain traction in the past. They also hope fundraising can ease orchestra fees, but haven’t yet said how much costs could be reduced.

What's Next

Jayaprakash hopes to organize monthly off-campus outings and a fundraiser. The pair will continue building connections across the program as they lead through the school year.

Bottom Line

The new shared-leadership model is already translating into a more connected orchestra program; sustaining that momentum will depend on turning the co-presidents’ ideas into lasting activities and support for students.