Eight Gobles middle and high school students participated in a series of activites this school year to learn about leadership with students across the Southwestern Activities Conferences (SAC), including attending a day of classes at Hartford Middle and High Schools to compare our schools with another district in our area.
The program concluded at Lake Michigan College in South Haven in a Student Leadership Summit on March 19, and Gobles students indicated they took a great deal away from the experience. In the photo Brittany Brown is working with a Hartford student and Dr. Marcia McEvoy on how to be a leader and positively respond to a student who is being rude.
According to sophomore Shelby Watkins, the experience was both fun and inspirational. "I really enjoyed getting to know students from other schools," Watkins said. "And I have thought of things I would like to help change at Gobles as a leader."
Juniors Arriel Ampey and Ted Johnson will go back into the hallways and classrooms more sensitive to the experience of other students. "I'm glad there isn't as much bullying at Gobles as other schools," Ampey said. "But when I see it I'm going to say something to try to stop it."
Johnson agreed. "It really hit me that I can't just be a pacificist if one student is picking on another," he said. "I have to say something, or do whatever I can to make it stop."
Freshman Brittany Brown said she enjoyed visiting another school for a day. "I'm definitely more appreciative with what we have in Gobles after attending another school," she said. "But I also learned that kids in Hartford are very cool when you get to know them, and mostly we're the same. It's a lot better than assuming things about other kids before you know anything about them."
Other students participating in the leadership series were eighth graders Ryan Gilbert and Abby White, freshman Alex Dietrich, and sophomore Mark Zajda. As students said goodbye to new friends from across the conference on March 19, Zajda pointed at a Hartford student with a big smile on his face. "I'll see you soon," he said. "I know I'll be seeing you again."
"You know it," the student said in response, like the new friends have known each other for years.