How can student representatives be better leaders of their schools? In an effort to improve their skills and vision for the school, 24 of the 50 Leadership class students will be traveling with staff and parent chaperones to Disneyland and California Adventure in Anaheim for a Disney-led conference from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2.
Trips such as this one have been a part of SHS for several years, and although there is no set pattern for how often the trip takes place, it typically occurs once every two years.
The intent of this trip, according to assistant principal and activities director Kristen Cunningham, is to strengthen connections among students in a new environment and to attend “Teamwork the Disney Way,” a Disney Imagination Campus leadership workshop designed to build on collaboration skills.
Cunningham notes that the 4-hour long leadership workshop chosen this year is different from previous years, in that it is geared more toward high school-aged students while the previous workshop was geared more toward junior high students. Nevertheless, she firmly states that the trip has proven effective in bringing class leaders together in the past.
Of course, besides the conference, there will also be time for fun. Students will have access to Disneyland’s two-day park hopper passes to spend time in both parks. Currently, the chaperones have also planned a Cheesecake Factory group dinner in Downtown Disney and will use the BAND app for attendance and communication.
After both the workshop and time spent together at the park, Cunningham hopes that the students will have practiced collaboration skills, explored traits that make a team most effective, engaged in team building and learned the value of communication and compromise.
The Disneyland trip is, above all, a way for leadership students to grow their group discussion and collaborative efforts.
“[I hope that] while engaging in a fun activity, students’ relationships will be strengthened and new connections will be fostered,” Cunningham said.
