Calvert Hosts Student Leadership Conference
On Friday morning, Calvert hosted a middle school leadership conference for area schools. Over 80 students and teachers from 10 schools attended. Led by Calvert students and facilitated by Jay Parker, Leadership Program Coordinator, and Jenn Yapsuga, Eighth Grade Coordinator, the event helped to empower students to be leaders, while providing them with a tangible experience.
The morning began with an overview of leadership styles. Students identified their style before coming to the conference. Led by Eighth Graders Tait T. and Lilly C., the student leaders discussed the importance of being self-aware of one’s own style and why it’s important to work on a team with those that have differing styles.
Student speakers then took to the microphone. Becky S. spoke about her experience in the Seventh Grade leadership class. Fo A. shared a video called “Sea Chair” and asked questions about the significance of the video and how it tied into the notion of leadership and how a leader can take a challenging issue and make something great out of it. Charlie K. shared a video by Stanford University called “Design Thinking” which introduced the concept of developing prototypes based on a user’s needs.
Students then got hands-on with a bridge building exercise led by Tommy M. Groups of students from various schools were challenged to build the longest suspended bridge with limited supplies that included straws, straight pins, a Dixie cup, tape, and string.
Different schools then shared their best practices in student leadership. Each group led a session where they shared a project that they had completed at their school or in their community. Brenden S. and Jamie W. represented Calvert. Caroline I. and Kofi W. then challenged each school to brainstorm a call to action in their community and design a poster that described their ideas. To conclude the morning, Blake S. and Davis L. facilitated student group sharing of posters and wrapped up with what was learned by attending the conference.
Thank you to all the schools that attended and our additional student leaders: Seventh Graders Alex K., Bella P., and Shannon Q.; and Sixth Graders Tucker H., Ellie M., and Alec T.
Calvert School is a coed independent lower and middle school.
