Trying to spur up some leadership in the class of 2022 and 2021, the Pleasant Valley Junior High decided to start a leadership club. The idea was first presented by teacher and basketball coach Jennifer Goetz. “I think leadership is essential in the developmental process of young adults. It is a piece of the puzzle that I feel is missing at PV, so instead of complaining about it, I tried to take action on it.”
The Leadership program often uses the #BeTheChange hashtag, encouraging students to reach out into the community. The students involved with the program helped craft the mission statement, as they are trying to apply the skills they have learned: “To educate and develop leadership qualities to prepare students to be effective, inclusive, and engaged leaders throughout community and beyond.”
The club puts an emphasis on the students and their organization, so they collectively decided on eight student leaders of the club who design the activities and goals of each club meeting. Leaders include 8th graders Kora Ruff, Jayne Abraham, Bryce Rubel, Camryn Woods, Brian Collins, Will Fairman, Addie Kerkoff and Barrett Lindmark. They meet every Monday, but the other 60+ kids involved in the club meet every other week. Some main areas of focus and goals for the club are developing self-efficacy: modeling the way and empowering others.
“I like working with my friends and bouncing ideas off of each other,” says Abraham. In the leader meetings, teachers give some guidance while students work together on the lesson themselves. Lindmark says, “I hope the club will help kids become better leaders and lead by good examples. I think it will help our district as a whole.
By incorporating student leadership within the club and implementing engaging activities, students learn to become better people as a whole and make a bigger impact in the community. Abraham explains, “We try to do interactive activities that are fun, but educative so we can learn about communication and leadership.”
“I like the freedom we have to do things in a fun way to learn about leadership. I have already learned how important listening is in leadership,” says Woods.
Many students and teachers are hoping the early start on leadership can lead to the early development of important characteristics that can help in many aspects of highschool and life. “I hope they will take what they have learned and carry with them far beyond the Junior High,” says Goetz. Spartan Nation is excited to have such eager students become an important part of this community.
