4 minute read
Training Youth to Lead
Training Youth to Lead
By Andrew Chiappazzi
Aubrie Moon is passionate about mental health.
The Woodland Hills High School sophomore wants to reduce the stigma around the topic and believes strongly that more advocacy is necessary. Her desire to be part of that conversation led her to join the Woodland Hills Student Summit, an annual event where high school students hand-pick topics and then lead discussions with students from other districts.
It’s one thing to speak passionately about a topic. It’s another to lead effectively, and that is something Moon and other student leaders have been working on the past two years through dedicated training prior to the summit.
“We talked a lot about being very open to new ideas. I think that’s something I struggled with in the past,” Moon said. “In order to be listened to, you have to also listen to the other person. Communication is a very two-way thing.”
Student leaders attended a training session at Chatham University this past fall in preparation for the fifth Woodland Hills Student Summit taking place in March. The training was led by Matthew Crutchman, a 4-H educator with Penn State Extension, who has a background in mental health, social work and first aid.
Crutchman has been a fixture since the second summit, when organizer and Woodland Hills High School English teacher Erin Wall invited him to serve as an expert in mental health. “Matthew recognized the need for student leadership training for a more holistic development and the recognition that young individuals have the potential to lead, innovate and effect change,” Wall said. Crutchman and other experts from Penn State Extension educate student leaders on conflict resolution, public speaking, group communication skills and even how to effectively give directions.
Avonworth senior Cassandra Heinauer said the training is crucial to maximize the impact of the discussion groups. “You are not presenting. You are moderating a conversation,” said Heinauer. “It’s good to ask rhetorical questions, because that makes people think about what they’re saying more.”
The annual leadership training includes experts in various fields who provide access to reliable outside sources and help the students take broad umbrella topics such as mental health or gun violence and narrow them to more specific issues. “The experts help them discover what elements they want to focus on and how they plan to tackle these important topics,” Wall said.
The LIGHT Education Initiative, or Leadership Through Innovation in Genocide and Human Rights Teaching, is a nonprofit that works with school districts to develop educational programming dedicated to Holocaust, genocide and human rights. It has provided support for both the Eradicate Hate Global Summit and the Woodland Hills Student Summit. LIGHT founder Nick Haberman said those programs are serving as platforms for students to take the lead on creating a positive impact in their districts and their communities.
“Young people across Southwestern Pennsylvania are clearly hungry for these opportunities,” Haberman said. “I think this is a beautiful model of citizenship education. It was always a call to action for school districts to create active, engaged citizens. We are seeing young people grow up into the citizens that we need them to be so that our society moves in the right direction.”
Student leaders gather at Chatham University to undergo leadership training for the fifth annual Woodland Hills Student Summit, which will take place on March 8, 2024.
Read companion article:
Empowering Students to Eradicate Hate
Cover story from the Winter/Spring 2024 issue of AIU Connections
