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Students show peers a better school experience
School NEWS
Students show peers a better CAIS school experience
From left:Sterling Mitchell,Alex Hadjis,Reid Hannaford and Josh Dannenbaum welcome students to Selwyn House.
By Richard Wills, publications editor
Hadjis, Reid Hannaford, Sterling Mitchell and Josh Dannenbaum had been working since October, planning every detail of the entire fiveday event. Throughout the conference they led the plenary sessions, introduced speakers and acted as spokesmen for the entire school. Behind the scenes they and their crew “dealt with suppliers, with restaurants, bus drivers, budgets and were troubleshooting when things went wrong,” says Selwyn House Student Life Director Courtney Prieur. “They smiled when they were exhausted, cheered louder and louder as the conference went on, and they made every delegate feel like they were special and welcome in our school.”
In keeping with Montreal’s historic association with the Olympic Games, the conference had an Olympic theme. The motto for the conference was “Carry the Torch; Lead the Way.” Dominick Gauthier, coach of Olympic skiers Jennifer Heil and Alexandre Bilodeau, and co-founder of B2ten, was the kick-off speaker for the conference; Olympic diver Alex Despatie gave a keynote speech to the students on Saturday.
In order to help visiting students absorb the flavour of Montreal, host students organized an Amazing Race-style Olympic Game-themed trip around the city, an outing to St-Sauveur, and an evening à la cabane à sucre, which were a big hit with the visiting students.
More photos at www.selwyn.ca.
The overwhelmingly positive reviews from the Student Leadership Conference hosted by Selwyn House School on April 17-21prove that highly motivated students can lead their peers to a more enjoyable and rewarding highschool experience.
At the conference, sponsored by Canadian Accredited Independent Schools, 150 student leaders from 30 private schools across Canada came together in Montreal for a five-day conference aimed at cultivating leadership skills. They listened to motivational speakers, attended workshops led by experts on developing school spirit, and staged group assemblies and activities to rally enthusiasm among the participants.
It worked.
Judging from the reaction of visiting students and faculty advisors, Selwyn House students led the way with an impressive demonstration of organizational ability, as well as a rousing show of group spirit.
“It’s amazing what the SHS student leaders have done in such a sophisticated manner,” said Tori Lunn, from St. Michael’s, in Victoria, B.C. The highlight for her was the exposure to the culture of Montreal. “It’s great,” she said, “It’s really different from home.”
Visiting faculty advisors were also impressed with the conference. “It was good to see the whole school community involved, from the IT techs to the bus drivers,” said Tannis MacDonald of St. John’s Ravenscourt in Winnipeg.
Valerie McClements, from Rundle College Academy in Calgary, described the student leaders as “true gentlemen.”
But these gentlemen also have an infectious, wacky sense of humour, as their guests learned during the many hilarious moments that occurred throughout the week.
“It’s been a blast!” said Ping Ping Lu, a student at Ashbury College in Ottawa. “We learned in a fun way, and it inspires me to get more involved in my school when I get home.”
A crew of students led by Alex
