• After Class
2023-24 Senior Group Leaders

It’s Go Time

Senior Group Leaders Lucia Gallo ’24 and Jayden Forniel ’24 are ready to lead their respective Divisions. The new SGLs spoke candidly about the path to the top student leadership post, the role of resilience at The Hive and what they hope to accomplish in the year ahead. 

We are having this conversation two weeks before Summer Phase begins. It's technically still summer vacation. What are you doing at The Hive?

Lucia: I’ve been working over the summer for the Office of Advancement but also meeting with my team — the Freshman Counselors and Freshman Leader — to make sure everything is running smoothly. And we just had a meeting with Headmaster Fr. Ed...so there’s always something.

Jayden: Benedict’s feels like more of a home, so I’m always here whether it’s for recreation or getting things done. I’m also here to meet with my team and get things off the ground. It’s down time for me, as well. It doesn’t feel like a burden to be here.

Your positions are an incredible responsibility. What made you want to commit to being Senior Group Leader?

Lucia: If you would have talked to freshman or sophomore Lucia, I would have said, ‘Absolutely not. Do not ever call me a Senior Group Leader.’ It was tough being Freshman Leader as a sophomore. It was the first year the Girls Prep Division was on the Property, and I was in situations where I had to constantly stand up to upperclassmen. Like telling the Boys Freshman Leader, ‘Dude! Get your guys out of the lunchroom now,’ to stay on schedule. It was difficult, but by junior year, everything clicked. I’d led two freshman classes and those girls mean the most to me. At that point, you can either step up and make your Division super awesome or you let it slide. Having the support of the girls made me think, ‘Wow. They believe in me. Maybe I can do this.’ And once Fr. Ed told me I had the position I knew it was go time.

Jayden: If you would have told me freshman year, I would still be at Benedict’s senior year I would have said, ‘You’re crazy.’ I didn’t even want to be at the School at first. I wanted to go to a public school in Newark, and I don’t know what my life would be like if I did. What changed for me was the community aspect of Benedict’s. I never experienced anything like this. Once you buy in, bond with people and have all these different experiences…like The Trail…it made me glad to be here. A big part of being Senior Group Leader is giving back, and that’s why I wanted the job so badly. I was a Freshman Counselor and an Assistant Group Leader, taking care of everyone and whatever anyone needed. A lot of guys were telling me, ‘I would follow you.’ And if someone tells me that, I only want to go further.

What do you hope to accomplish as Senior Group Leader?

Jayden: I think an essential piece on the Boys side is discipline and consequences for actions. That’s something Benedict’s was built on and we want to come back to that and instill that drive for success. We got a little complacent last year — and that’s not to say that we didn’t do exceptional things — but there’s always a place for improvement.

Lucia: This is the fourth year of the Girls Prep Division and the first graduating class that’s been here all four years. I take a lot of pride in that. We’ve accomplished a lot in a short period of time. Our teams are getting pretty good, and we’ve had girls go to Yale. Imagine what we can accomplish in the next 15, 20 or 70 years. My goal is to make sure the Girls Prep Division continues that progress and that we keep getting better, because we can. In terms of specifics, communication is something the Girls team talked a lot about during a three-day retreat for the Middle and Prep Division leadership teams in June. Why are we so terrible at communication and how can we get better? It’s something we’ve started working on for the upcoming year.

Jayden: We realized we don’t communicate enough, too. So much happens on the go and we don’t take a moment to stop and get everyone on board. That’s not a recipe for success and it’s something we’re going to solve this year.

A big part of a Benedict’s education, and the theme of this issue of the magazine, is resilience. How do you see that playing out on a day-to-day basis?

Lucia: Resilience is a part of our everyday conversations. We wouldn’t be where we are today if we didn’t overcome adversity and get back up. I know for myself, resilience is something I work on every single day. It gets tough when you’re here until eight o’clock at night and you’ve been going nonstop. You’ve got to get up and do it the next day, so resilience is a constant in the Girls Prep Division and the Boys Prep Division every single day.

Jayden: I was a company commander on The Trail and pretty intense when it came to training. I told the company we were running one mile. Everyone got their bags on, and we ran three. One kid starts to struggle. The other kids took his bag to alleviate the weight, and he was doing well for a while, but started to struggle again. Then, a bunch Boys Prep Division members came out on the patio and cheered the company on to finish. It was this connecting moment which gave them that extra push they needed. To me, that really represents the resilience that’s evident every day at Benedict’s. Sometimes guys can’t pick themselves up. We need each other to pick ourselves up.

What are you looking forward to this year?

Lucia: It’s a surreal moment being a senior. I’m looking forward to ending the year with my class. We’ve been together for four years and made a lot of friendships. I want to get the work done and just enjoy every single moment.

Jayden: I’ve always hung out with the older guys and have been the mentee instead of the mentor. Now that I’m a senior I get to be the mentor to the younger guys. That’s something I’m really looking forward to, because the guys who mentored me had an everlasting impact on the way I lead people and the way I conduct myself. Now is a great time to pass that on to others.


Lucia Gallo ’24 is a member of the Rosemary Anderson Group and held multiple student leadership positions, including Freshman Leader, prior to becoming Senior Group Leader. She serves on the Admissions Team, works on social media marketing for the Office of Advancement, rows crew and is captain of the volleyball team. Lucia hopes to attend Columbia University or another college with a five-year M.B.A. program after graduating St. Benedict’s Prep.

Jayden Forniel ’24 is a member of the Fr. Valerian Kanetski, O.S.B. Group, where he served as Freshman Counselor and Assistant Group Leader. In addition to Senior Group Leader, he is Editor-in-Chief of The Benedict News, a fellow in the Fr. Mark Payne Institute and member of the Admissions Team. Jayden also organized the Building Bridges basketball game with the New Jersey State Police last spring. He hopes to attend the U.S. Naval Academy or a college with an R.O.T.C. program.

Both Senior Group Leaders reside in Newark, N.J.

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