After a two-year COVID-19 delay, eighth-grader Hank Utay became Head of School for the day on April 21^st.

The tradition has been around for a while now; every year one student gets to become the head of school for a day. The opportunity is offered annually at the Greenhill Gala auction.

Utay was previously unaware that his parents had bid on the item.

“I was looking at it [on the Greenhill auction website] so I knew it was there, but when my mom won the auction, it was a surprise,” Utay said.

In April 2020, Utay’s family originally won the auction. He was in sixth grade at the time. However, because of delays due to the pandemic and school closure, his day to be Head of School, had to be postponed.

“I think it’s probably a better experience now that I’m older because I get to go more in-depth, and the new science building campaign had not begun,” Utay said.

He had the opportunity to do tasks that Head of School Lee Hark usually does, such as sending emails to faculty, greeting the Lower School students and meeting with members of administration.

He was also able to teach a fifth-grade math class, see the new Valdes STEM + Innovation Center construction site up close and go off campus for a Starbucks run.

Utay is interested in math, so visiting the site of the new STEM center was a highlight of his day.

“The hardest part about being head of school is keeping up with everything, big or small, that is happening with everyone at Greenhill,” Utay said.