Leading Upward
All-school Career, Community and Leadership Development
How can we help all young people make the most of their high school education?
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In addition to academic classes and extracurricular activities, students should have frequent and intentional opportunities throughout high school to explore their talents, develop soft skills, consider and begin to plan for their future, and develop as leaders. They should also have ample opportunities to build connections with a wide variety of peers across all grade levels and share experiences. Connections lead to empathy, empathy leads to support, support leads to confidence, confidence leads to academic success.
To provide all students with these opportunities, we designed and implemented a comprehensive four-year program that complements classroom learning, providing all students with opportunities and experiences that prepare them for the future: 21st century skills, career exploration, post-high school preparation and planning, leadership training, and building a supportive, connected culture.
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Every student matters, every student has talents, and every student - throughout four years of high school - should have access to ample support and guidance in order to gain confidence and prepare for a successful future.
Leading Upward
With just one hour a week dedicated to Leading Upward, all students will intentionally begin to prepare for their future; in addition, your school culture will be transformed. Below is an outline of the comprehensive, career and school culture program that guides ALL students in developing agency and leadership skills. Lessons and structure can be custom designed to your school’s needs. And unique to this program - the students take part in the design: a program for students, by students.
Freshmen Mentorship and Skill Development: Freshmen are each assigned to a teacher-mentor. Mentors lead their groups through experiences that develop soft skills and that guide all freshmen to optimize their high school experiences.
Sophomore Career Exploration and Creative Thinking: Sophomores spend the year beginning to think forward. Guest speakers from a variety of industries introduce sophomores to career possibilities; sophomores also learn about and engage in the design thinking process to solve a community problem, developing their skills as creative thinkers.
Junior Future Prep and Planning: Juniors continue career exploration and preparation. Every junior is also provided with SAT instruction and practice for each portion of the SAT. This ensures that ALL students have equal access to preparation and opportunity for success in the event that they choose to apply for college.
Senior Leadership Training: Seniors continue future preparation by learning and practicing invaluable leadership skills.
Student Teams: Senior leaders lead small groups of multi-grade students in team building activities. Seniors hone their leadership skills, underclassmen have fun and gain confidence. This aspect of the program adds another layer of support for every student in the building, builds connectivity and leads the way to a more positive school culture.
Interested in learning more? Let's connect.