Students become caring leaders
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This article was published 01/05/2017 (3323 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
West Kildonan Collegiate has opened up doors for new young leaders with a pilot program it’s offering this year.
The Civic Leadership course is designed to give students an opportunity to develop valuable leadership skills that will serve them in high school and the future. By the end of the course, students become contributing members of society as they develop a sense of self-worth and social obligation to make positive impacts.
The program encourages students to share different ideas throughout the school and into the community. WKC already offers a phys-ed leadership course but it is more sports-oriented. The new course has given the students an opportunity to lead using a social justice model.
“It’s kind of social justice meets student council,” civic leadership teacher Tammy Harder said.
And those are just some of the skills Grade 11 students Emily Sabourin, Scott Knight, Victor Selby, Maya Hopkins and Maddy Nowosad, five of the 26 students enrolled in the program, are laying hands on.
“There was never (a class) that not only involved our school but the community around us,” Sabourin said. “I think it’s a cool opportunity we’ve been given to help people in different ways with different initiatives.”
Harder said students needed to develop their leadership skills at first. Although many students who chose to take this class were outgoing, others were afraid to speak in public. The class worked together to build confidence.
With those skills ready to go, all students jumped on board for their first big project: Students Working Against Tobacco. They delivered presentations to elementary students in the Seven Oaks School Division. Knight said they became influent kids in the school.
“We get out to the community, and that like-mindedness about WKC is represented through this one class that goes out and does all these things and tries to make all these changes,” he said.
Leadership skills are essential, but the course has even more to offer. Harder said her students come from different backgrounds and start to interact with each other in a way they wouldn’t if it was not for the many projects they work on together.
“It breaks down the barriers…and they have to come together for a common interest. It’s neat that kids who wouldn’t normally associate with one another but in this course they do,” she said.
Another aspect of the course is that they have a space to learn more about current events happening in Canada and internationally and share their opinions. Selby said he enjoys in-class discussions.
“A lot of us have had an interest in current events and social justice issues, but there weren’t a lot of places to share, but there is now. We can talk about what happens in the news, and we always talk about that now with like-minded people.”
“And when we talk about these issues, Harder always asks us what we can do to help if it’s like that type of issue or what could be done,” Nowosad added.
Hopkins said helping others while learning feels like a break from the pressures of, for example, a math class.
“This class has shown me the importance of being involved and knowing what’s going on in the world and being more aware of how I was in the past. It’s opened up my eyes to things that go on in our city and our school and how it affects me and how I can help in the situation,” she said.