SHS students lead school in new direction | Education | Summerville Journal Scene

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SHS students lead school in new direction

Published Thursday, February 05, 2009 1:09 PM

By Michael Tannebaum
Summerville Journal Scene ®

Next time a student at Summerville High School has a conflict with one of his or her peers, rather than being “written up” for the conflict, odds are that another student — one of the “leadership” students — will help solve the disagreement.

SHS has two leadership classes, comprised of about 50 juniors and seniors who were nominated by their teachers. The students in these classes work to better the lives of those not only at SHS but also in various areas around the country and the world.

Recently, the leadership students spearheaded an effort to collect clothes for students at a school in Texas that were affected by Hurricane Ike and also “adopted” a United States platoon station in Iraq and have supplied the troops with care packages.

In addition to serving as mediators for conflicts between students, the leadership classes started a “Random Acts of Kindness” program in which they send thank-you letters and small treats to the school’s teachers.

This is the second year of the leadership program, but the first year of leadership classes.

“Last year the program was all teacher driven,” said Lindsey Wuerfel, an SHS leadership student. “This year, we wanted to add a student branch to give us more of a voice.”

SHS Assistant Principal Will Wilson believes the program has benefited not only the students in the leadership classes but the entire school.

“We put it in place to empower our students,” Wilson said. “Everything they have done has changed our environment in a positive way.”

Unfortunately, like many other programs throughout Dorchester District 2, budget cuts are threatening the leadership program.

“The possibility of this class existing next year is somewhat in doubt but I’d say it’s better than 50 percent,” Wilson said. “Within the coming weeks, we’ll know exactly what the budget looks like in terms of what programs we’ll still have and what will be chopped from the block.”

Leadership student Elizabeth Hughes said that if the program were eliminated, it would be detrimental.

“To remove it would be a huge loss because all of the students in the school respect this class and know that the school can improve,” Hughes said. “The program has affected the entire school for the better. “

Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com

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