Student Leadership Summit provides instruction and inspiration to school
October 4, 2011 • Claire Travis '12
Filed under I. News
Last Saturday, the Student Council and Gwinnett Student Leadership Team organizations hosted a morning leadership summit for students interested in establishing, improving, or enhancing their leadership skills. From 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, over fifty students representing twenty school organizations took part in modules and discussions that engaged them in leadership training. Those students also heard from guest speaker Lauren Sallarulo.
After a complimentary Chick-fil-A breakfast, the participants broke the ice with a communication skill game in which students were randomly assigned a farm animal, closed their eyes, and had to find other students given the same animal by emulating the animal’s characteristic noise. The activity enhanced interpersonal skills crucial for effective leadership. The inspiring instruction continued when students heard from a former Gwinnett County Public Schools and Auburn University Graduate, Lauren Sallarulo. Ms. Sallarulo shared her leadership experiences both in and outside of school in order to give the attendees an idea of what the future can hold when students take initiative.
Their leadership minds sufficiently primed, the students made rounds to three engaging sessions presented by Ms. D’Antonio and GSLT members Aziz Anderson, Brian Barr, Dakotah Rice, and Claire Travis. New Student Government Association sponsors Ms. D’Antonio and Ms. Robbins showed their desire to inspire leadership throughout the school through the “North Star” lesson. In this session, students were lead in a process of determining their “North Star,” the single thing they can always look to as a guide. Each of the participants wrote her chosen item on a star on a poster that is now on display along the ramp near the cafeteria.
Aziz and Dakotah, however, took another take on leadership in their discussion on positive peer pressure and using social media effectively. The team stressed the impact of using social media for networking while maintaining professional standards.
The final lesson, by Brian and Claire, initiated a discussion on ethics and how people desire authentic leaders. The GSLT representatives used mini-lessons called Habitudes that utilize an image and a simple saying to explain a principle of leadership. Saturday’s session highlighted the importance of character, staying true to that character, and focusing on how a leader—not others—define that character.
The morning closed with an address from Dr. Mathews and an inspiring video that left the attendees feeling empowered and ready to implement their new skills throughout the school. As Dr. Mathews thanked the students for being “first followers” at GSMST, he echoed the spirit of leadership with a quote from Arthur F. Carmazzi: “Leadership is not about changing the mindset of a group, but in the cultivation of an environment that brings out the best and inspires the individuals in that group.”
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