Some decisions begin long before a vote.

At Gimnasio La Montaña, the 2026–2027 School Governance Elections gave our students the opportunity to take on a real challenge: to look closely at their school, understand what their community is experiencing, and think about how they could contribute to making it better.

To develop their proposals, candidates listened to their peers, learned about their perspectives, needs, and aspirations, and spoke with school leaders and those responsible for different areas of school life. They sought to understand situations, identify opportunities, and explore possible solutions. Based on what they learned, they developed their platforms and shared their ideas with the community.

That journey is also part of education.

Before Proposing, We Must Understand
A good proposal does not begin with a promise; it begins with questions. Throughout the electoral process, students have the opportunity to engage with different perspectives on school life and understand that behind every need there are contexts, processes, and people who need to be understood.

In this way, a concern can become a proposal, an idea can become a program, and an aspiration can become a meaningful commitment. This experience develops essential skills in our students: analysis, critical thinking, communication, reasoning, listening, decision-making, and collaboration.

Putting Ideas to the Test
The campaigns challenged candidates to present their platforms, explain their proposals, and participate in debates before a community that listened, asked questions, and made its choice.

Speaking in front of others requires preparation. Defending an idea requires sound arguments. Listening to a different perspective invites us to reconsider our own assumptions.

Through this process, students discovered that leadership is not simply about taking initiative. It also means understanding, making a reasoned case, building trust, and taking responsibility for what one proposes with sound judgment and consistency.

Trust Is Given; Responsibility Is Built
Those who were elected received the trust of their peers. With that trust comes the commitment to listen, represent others, act with integrity, and work for the common good.

Each year, class representatives make a commitment to the school community and become part of the different spaces for representation.

The Student Council is the representative body that ensures students’ ongoing participation. The Personero also has a clearly defined role within Student Governance: promoting the exercise of students’ rights and responsibilities and bringing matters concerning them to the appropriate authorities.

In this way, the different levels and spaces for participation at GLM provide students with concrete opportunities to contribute to school life.

Thinking Differently Helps Us Grow
A community does not need to think alike in order to move forward. It needs spaces where ideas can be expressed, challenged, and built upon with respect.

This was one of the central reflections shared by our Principal, María Mercedes de Brigard, during the 2026–2027 inauguration ceremony. At a time when differences can become a source of division, the challenge is to strengthen a culture of dialogue, respect, and unity.

Thinking differently helps us think better. That is why, after an election, there are not two communities—those who won and those who lost—but one community, called to work together for what it shares.

The invitation to the newly elected representatives is precisely to gather the best ideas that emerged during the campaigns and turn them into actions that contribute to GLM flourishing, growing, and moving forward.

This Is just the Beginning
The 2026–2027 electoral process reached its final stage with the inauguration of the class representatives and the new President and Vice President of the Student Council.

José María Salazar, President, and Juan Diego Fandiño, Vice President, both 11th Grade students, took on these leadership roles with a commitment to promoting participation, contributing to the implementation of the guidelines established in the Community Handbook, defending the dignity of community members, and working with the different bodies of Student Governance for the common good and the continued progress of the School.

In their words following the election, one idea captured the challenge: “This is only the beginning.”

The process for electing the Personero also concluded after a blank vote prevented a winner from being determined in the first round of voting. Mariana Plata, a Grade 11 student, will now represent the student body, safeguarding students’ rights and promoting the fulfillment of their responsibilities.

And those who participated as candidates, whether or not they were elected, have already been part of something important: they observed, asked questions, researched, proposed, debated, and put their talents at the service of their community. And that matters, too.

A Journey That Prepares Us for the Next Summit
At Gimnasio La Montaña, we believe in our students’ abilities and have high expectations for what they can contribute. That is why we provide opportunities for them to take on real challenges, with guidance and responsibility.

Here, leadership is not simply about holding a position. It is built when a student thinks rigorously, proposes thoughtfully, listens to different voices, and turns ideas into actions that contribute to the lives of others.

This is one of the paths we walk together at GLM: educating students who are able to recognize opportunities, take responsibility, and put their talents at the service of their community.

Because every experience adds to the journey that prepares us for the next summit.

We thank all the candidates and candidate teams who took part in this process for approaching it with responsibility and transparency, and for contributing their ideas and proposals to a community that continues to move toward the summit of excellence.