On April 21, Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School announced its Associated Student Body government election results through its school newsletter, “The Guardian Gazette.” This is managed by athletic director Kathy Lanzas.
President Mia Durham-LeBus, Vice President Kannon Walter, Commissioner of Spirit Charlie Small, Treasurer Isa Llados and Vice Treasurer Ruby Moller will be serving as next year’s ASB government. Most of whom have all worked together before and are a tight group.
With the majority of ASB government having had experience in a leadership role with the school, 2026-’27 could be IBW’s greatest year for student collaboration, spirit and community.
But what would a great year for student collaboration, spirit and community even look like?
Events that include everyone may seem impossible, but you can still get close and IBW got close to reaching this goal many times this year. The IBW Wellness Fair event that took place earlier this year, in March, was a huge success among a vast majority of the student population.
The IBW Wellness Fair was a large event in which students could go around the school participating in a multitude of activities to feel good and support their mental health for a good portion of the early morning. There were activities for essentially anyone: lectures about different ethnic backgrounds in mental health, arts and crafts, deep conversation groups and many more.
This was the first year IBW had seen the Wellness Fair – or anything like it on this scale – and it brought much of the school together in ways that we hadn’t normally seen. While mostly planned by the school psychologist, leadership played a large role in helping make it happen.
ASB Vice President Walter, the elected vice president, has high hopes for the school next year. With a passion for leadership for several years, he would like to bring this love for it to the whole school community.
Walter hopes to bring the leadership committee closer to the whole student body through more transparency. Communication and transparency would help involve the student body in more school events and with school culture. In next year’s position, he hopes to be a listening ear for the student body.
“[Something I really want to focus on is] increasing transparency between leadership and the regular student body,” says Walter. “Right now the input we get is from our friends or the other leadership students that we talk to, and so if we can get feedback from the whole student body and engage with the whole student body a little more, I think that will be super beneficial to leadership.”
More involvement from the student body with leadership can result in new, interesting events – large and small – happening around the school. IBW may be able to have a little something for everyone and engage some of the lesser-known groups of students at school.
Walter aims to create more public records and knowledge of the meetings and documentation of events. He hopes this can help students gain access to what’s going on behind the scenes and voice their opinions.
Along with new events, IBW can expect to see many returning events next year. Events such as Wells Madness, Wells Bowl – Wells Madness but with football –, Ida B. Chella and the Wellness Fair are all expected to make returns next year, some as bigger and better events.
Wells Madness, the IBW basketball tournament that was first piloted in 2025, and gained popularity this March 2026, highlighted some of the minds of next year’s ASB government.
ASB President Durham-LeBus has always had a heart for IBW. She’s been coming to school events at IBW since she was little and has loved to see the school spirit and the students making it all possible. ASB President has been Durham-LeBus’s goal since she set foot into the school; with that finally becoming true, she wishes to do her very best to serve the student body.
Durham-Lebus was the creative mind behind IBW’s highly successful Wells Madness and hopes to leave it behind as a part of her legacy after she leaves the school.
While ASB will have some say in student events, it is not the primary reason they are here. ASB is here to represent the student body. To make sure students’ needs are heard. Their goal is to ensure that students are able to feel safe, heard and cared for in their school.
If you have any large concerns that require internal changes to the school, ASB are your go-to people to talk to.
With this tight-knit group of students taking charge next year, the IBW community could grow closer beyond what anyone expects.
