SE Valley Times

Highland High School's Student Council recently organized a leadership conference for 4th to 6th-grade students from Greenfield Elementary School. The event, held on November 15th, aimed to inspire and equip young students with essential leadership skills for their future involvement in student council activities during junior high and high school.

The conference focused on developing key leadership qualities such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. Through interactive stations, elementary students participated in activities designed to enhance these skills, emphasizing active listening, clear communication, gratitude, teamwork, and flexibility.

A Q&A session was included where the younger students could interact with high school seniors about their experiences in student council. This provided an opportunity for the elementary students to gain insights from experienced leaders about making a positive impact in their schools and communities.

Anna Kelly, a senior at Highland High and Student Council President said: “I was in STUCO at Greenfield Elementary and Greenfield Junior High, so I know the advisors and how they operate. I was able to put myself in the students’ shoes, thinking about the questions I had when I was younger, which really helped with planning the conference.”

On the same day as the conference, Highland High hosted an assembly featuring a teacher versus student dodgeball tournament. Macey Compeau, the STUCO advisor and social studies teacher at Highland High stated: “Because we had the assembly, the Greenfield Elementary students got to watch how our STUCO sets up and runs an event rather than just explaining the process to them. Plus they really enjoyed seeing teachers and students throwing dodgeballs.”

The initiative not only aimed to empower future leaders but also strengthened ties between Highland High School and Greenfield Elementary. Looking ahead, Highland’s Student Council plans to expand its leadership conference by collaborating with other district high schools for larger-scale events.