Nurturing Student Leaders at the Senior School

Why would students return to school in August even before classes began? For a willing and eager group of 62 Senior School students, the answer would be leadership! From August 26th through the 28th, they enthusiastically took part in intensive student leadership training, ably led by Ms. English, Dean of Student Affairs, and Ms. Markle, former Guidance Counsellor and now the Director of Admissions.

Through an innovative and fun series of exercises, the students gained valuable insight into the serious business of what it means to be a leader and learned strategies that will help make them successful in the roles they hold within the School.

The first two days were set aside for this year’s WEB Leaders. WEB – Where Everybody Belongs – is the middle years student integration program adopted by TFS last year. This ground-breaking program develops Level I and II students as mentors for students new to the Senior School – including Grade 6’s, new Grade 7’s and Level I students joining us from our Mississauga campus. The goal is to steer these new students through the trials of high school life – both academic and social.

On the last day of training, all other Senior School student leaders – prefects, club leaders, house heads and members of the Student Council – were challenged by Ms. English to review their own perceptions of leadership. They examined personal values in relation to the possibly opposing values of others, and discussed how to bring about consensus. They also engaged in thought-provoking role-play, such as imagining being rescued by a helicopter, but learning not everyone in their group could get on. What would they do?

These active and eye-opening sessions will no doubt provide a solid basis for decision-making among all our student leaders in the school year to come!