This year's new format of Mock Primary Election (MPE), an MFS tradition of over 60 years, sparked various emotions and opinions among students and faculty. The changes eliminated the election simulation process — including student portrayals of primary candidates — and the fanfare of the quadrennial event that came with it, changing the nature of the event.
As a substitute for the impersonation of primary candidates, this year’s MPE introduced a new main event: a town hall-style debate with five US students, done to retain a sense of debate around a nuanced topic, much like that of a primary town hall.
The debate consisted of a 40-minute conversation with the students discussing their personal stances on the TikTok ban recently passed by the House of Representatives while responding to each other’s perspectives, followed by a short period of audience participation, with moderator US Director Noah Rachlin encouraging audience perspective.
“I was really struck hearing the responses by [such] nuanced take[s] on this issue, [more] than what we actually see from the adults that run this country." —Mary Anne Henderson, History Department Chair
Serving as one of the lead organizers of MPE, History Department Chair Mary Anne Henderson was satisfied with the turnout of the debate.
“[The debate] felt like a moment I was really proud of in terms of our community getting into what felt like a really deep conversation,” they said. “I was really struck hearing the responses by [such] nuanced take[s] on this issue, [more] than what we actually see from the adults that run this country. It's hard to not feel a lot of hope as an adult given that and what it means for the future.”
Alicia Leung ’24, a student who experienced the 2020 MPE, agreed with the overall success of the debate in its ability to be “pretty helpful in highlighting different opinions.”
However, Leung also expressed her disappointment around the lack of student energy throughout the debate that was found in previous MPEs. She said, “More audience participation would have made it more engaging.”
Leung noted that this audience participation was largely spurred by the fanfare of the old format.
“I miss the old MPE with candidates speaking and having people play as the candidates,” Leung said. “I miss that whole part just because it was always really fun to see your friends acting, and I knew they put a lot of work into doing that.”
Other students such as Olivia Arzu ’27 had similar thoughts about the level of student engagement during the debate, and she wished there were more opportunities for “audience participation [to] talk across differences,” a skill that US administration has cited as an area of growth for US students.
After the debate structure shifted to have Director of the Upper School Noah Rachlin serve as the moderator instead of students, Arzu was “upset and confused” by the decision and thought that “more diversity of opinion in the debate would [have been] encouraged if students that specifically volunteered to moderate could [have helped the process of] talking across differences.”
Leung shared similar sentiments to the moderating aspect of the debate and hoped in the future moderators “could turn more to the audience to let them weigh in and see if there [are] more differing opinions.”
A recurring aspect of MPE is the opening ceremony, in which grades 5-12 assemble in the Field House Gym and hear from Head of School Julia de la Torre along with a keynote speaker. This year’s guest keynote speaker was Philadelphia resident Eric Marsh Sr., manager of Community & Engagement for WHYY and community advocate, whose address focused on encouraging local community activism. Marsh spoke of the importance of civic engagement using many personal anecdotes about fatherhood, parenting, and working in local school environments.
Jade Montenegro ’27 believed Marsh’s speech “showed us how ‘just showing up’ makes a big difference, [and] by just having an opinion, we as citizens can change everyone’s lives for the better.”
Montenegro highlighted Marsh’s anecdotes of parenting in his community as a key aspect of the speech.
“I thought what was most interesting about his story was that just showing up to his children’s school turned into him having a profound impact on many Philadelphia youth. I think his story taught us all important lessons about the difference we can make in our communities by just showing up,” said Montenegro.
“He had an inspiring story and didn’t have trouble holding his audience, which is pretty hard to do, especially having little kids listening.” —Daisy Maturo ’25
Middle school students were engaged by the interactive elements of Marsh’s speech, such as audience polls and call-and-response, and Marsh’s message resonated with them.
Caroline Nesevich ’28 enjoyed listening to Marsh’s speech “because [Marsh] was interactive with the crowd and shared his own experiences that students could relate to, or learn from. He also talked a lot about how we could ‘be the change’ for our future, and it was overall a really positive start to MPE.”
Nick Mandrackie ’24 disagreed that the speech was engaging. “I thought the keynote speaker had a good message, but his delivery of the speech was boring at times,” said Mandrackie. Mandrackie added he “would have rather just had another workshop [at] that time” instead of opening with a combined MS-US address.
Expressing her mixed opinions on the speaker, Olivia Neri ’24 said, “I enjoyed having the keynote there because I felt that he touched on the innermost reasons as to why we participate in civic engagement: to make a change that we want to see in our personal lives even greater. [But], I wasn’t sure if every single thing that he said connected exactly how he wanted it to.”
Experiencing MPE for the first time, Owen Rodwell-Simon ’26 agreed with the issue of engagement in the keynote speech and said, “I believe the keynote tried to have an important message [which was] helping fathers with parenting, but that at some points the way in which the speaker was sharing felt too roundabout.”
However, Daisy Maturo ’25 believed that Marsh was able to give all students a unique take away from the speech and adhered to the entire crowd. “He had an inspiring story and didn’t have trouble holding his audience, which is pretty hard to do, especially having little kids listening. He was smart about making sure people were taking something away from the lecture even if it was different for everyone,” Maturo said.
Student-led workshops for MS and US students was the core of the event with the purpose of inspiring “broader civic engagement.” Though not a new addition to this year’s MPE, most workshops were student-led, a shift from previous iterations.
Cloud Blackburn ’25 emphasized the workshops as one of the highlights of their day.
“I think that [these] workshops [were] able to improve talking across differences, especially as it gave people a chance to express their opinions on something that we all have some experience with.” More specifically, Blackburn mentioned, “I know that from my workshops [the leaders] had us very engaged.”
Through leading a workshop alongside another MS student, Arzu agreed that student engagement was key to providing a great educational experience as well as creating an open environment for disagreement.
“I … tried my best to get [students] to mix up. I did an icebreaker at the beginning and tried to get them to engage with each other [by having] a session where they talk[ed] about brainstorming ideas.”
Rachlin, a member of the administrative team responsible for this year’s MPE planning, called attention to the importance of setting a nonjudgmental environment in workshops from the start.
“Folks were in that [workshop] room as equals, and not necessarily as members of specific [grade] divisions who then either did or did not have the space to participate.”
Student experience and comfort in these workshops were a main priority, as Rachlin shared his commitment to ensuring authentic experiences for learning that resonated for students and left a lasting impact.
Students such as Maturo were pleased with the workshop engagement after attending MPE for the first time. From participating in the Climate Change and LGBTQ+ Rights workshops, two subjects she is passionate about, Maturo enjoyed the workshop structure and content.
The workshops surpassed Maturo’s expectations.
“I thought it was going to be boring, but I was surprised that [the workshops were] actually fun, and I was never bored.”
Neri, as a co-facilitator of the Capital Punishment workshop, explained her role in organizing two cohorts of workshops.
“I really enjoyed giving students a better understanding of the origins of the death penalty while engaging them in guided discussions relating to that.”
Neri stated that it’s “not always easy” to get students engaged, but “since everyone that was there actually chose to be there, I felt that the experience became enriching for everyone.”
However, as the student facilitator of the Crime and Criminal Justice workshop, Arzu also explained the hidden difficulties of planning the workshops and described them as “a struggle [of] organization between everyone.”
She noted that she received “no check-ins and support about leading or ensuring factual information was spread in the workshops” from faculty.
Arzu explained, “I feel like there could have been better organization for student leaders, and I could have had much more [of an] understanding of what's supposed to be done in these workshops. I kind of just made it off the cuff by myself.”
With only 45 minutes for each workshop, Juliano Buniag '27 also raised the issue of time constraints.
“The issue I found was that we ran out of time so fast that we didn't even get to experiment or work with the things we were taught,” said Buniag, who attended the Political Humor and Saving Philly's Chinatown workshops.
Even with the roll-out of this new structure, Henderson acknowledged that “there is a lot more to do.” Reflecting on the outcome of the event, Henderson said, “I think there are still folks in our community who think it's hard to speak up for a variety of reasons, so we [are] continuing to grow that muscle.”
Despite positive feedback to the debate portion of the event replacing the traditional student replication of presidential primary politicians, many students such as Montenegro “would love to see the old version of MPE come up again in some capacity.” However, Montenegro noted her opinion on the future of MPE and said, “I think this version, while different, has the potential to complement previous variations well.”
Although controversy still exists surrounding these changes, Leung is hopeful about the event's future.
“I think that [controversy] is something that always occurs when you change from a past tradition,” said Leung. “I definitely miss what was in the past … but I think that once [faculty leaders] have more of a chance to grow the event out and learn from feedback on what students like and what they didn’t like this year, [we] can create a new tradition that can be very positive and fun.”
Photo by Aashika Reddy '26
BEHIND THE DEBATE: WHAT IT TAKES TO DEBATE THE TIKTOK BAN AT MPE
Photo by Emmie Huynh '27
Photo by Sophia Lalani '25