Change Seasons, Change Tactics
Fall is a critical time for student leadership… the initial excitement for the start of the school year has passed and it is time to do the real work of serving the students and the school community. Remembering that you are here to serve is the first and most important thing to remember, this is not about you! There are many great benefits to student leadership; the life skills that are learned, the confidence that is gained and the people you meet. Not to mention the amazing things you can learn and do at great events like the upcoming Ontario Student Leadership Conference! But, we need to remember that the work itself, the day to day of being a student leader is about serving your fellow students, not ourselves.
It’s a common trap that leaders fall into at this time of year; you’ve done a couple of events and your instinct is to ramp it up, and go BIGGER!! We need to take a moment and think about those we serve. We often plan events for ourselves, thinking about the things that we, as leaders, would find fun to do. Those things may be way outside the comfort zone of the rest of the students at your school. Fight that instinct and instead think of the other students in the community and what they may want to do. It may even be something that has such a low barrier of entry, that people may be participating and not even know “there is an event today”.
As someone who travels around to schools speaking, like my colleagues in CYSB, we are often brought in to speak during some kind of spirit event. It may be a Dress Up Day or Spirit Day of some kind. The vibe that people put out on those days can really be summed up in two ways: “Look at ME!! I dressed up! I’m awesome!!” And “Look at THEM! They dressed up…weird.” The place we need to come to at this time of year is making the things that we do say “Look at US! Look at what we all did together!” That’s the feeling that will start to move the needle and create a change of attitude in your school. This creates a sense of community, a sense of belonging, which is what we are all looking for.
Do the dress up day, sure! But instead of the craziest thing you can think of, go with the lowest possible commonality between everyone. Run an event that instead of looking for volunteers to do some outrageous thing on a stage, just do something fun on stage that everyone will want to watch. These are the things that we can do together! If you have non-leadership students in your school respond to something you have organized with a feeling of “Look at US!”, you’re winning.
So, as the colours and the seasons change, and we all start to stay inside more, it’s time for you to look inside, think beyond yourself and your fellow leaders and find ways to better serve and cultivate your community. The work has only just begun. LOOK AT US!!
