New Leadership class provides benefits and complications

Starting next year, Leadership will be a mandatory class period for commissioners, elected class officers and ASB members.

Because it will have an actual class period rather than meeting during lunch twice a week, the hope is that those taking part in the class will be able to more effectively plan for events such as Homecoming, Spring Fling and Speak up for Change week.

Activities director Rebeca Marshburn hopes that since students are able to meet at school more consistently, there “won’t be any need to meet outside of school, which should reduce student stress.”

One factor that has deterred interest in student government is that having seven periods with a sport may cause time conflicts. Although students can be excused early if they have a game or early practice, they will have to miss planning time in their class.

Freshman class president Roshan Verma’s opposition towards the new Leadership class has even led him to create a petition on Change.org. In it, he states how the Leadership class will conflict with underclassmen’s schedules, who are limited by their class choices and mandatory sports credit. He also mentions how having a class would not necessarily solve the issue of people neglecting their jobs.

“We felt that it was a hasty decision, but we respect the decision and understand the logic behind it,” Verma said. “We just want to make sure our opinions are heard and see if we could come to a compromise.”

So far the petition has only gathered a total of 29 supporters, and according to Marshburn, the now-mandatory Leadership class hasn’t really affected participation in ASB or class office.

Despite the conflicts between sports and Leadership, current junior class representative Jessy Liu sees the change as beneficial.

“A lot of our communication and work has been done over Facebook groups and chats,” Liu said. “It’s sufficient, but not efficient.”

In addition to giving Leadership time at school to collaborate face-to-face, the addition of the class period also encourages students in Leadership to take a more active stance.

“With Leadership essentially as an extracurricular right now, it’s so easy for individuals to slack off and not hold up their end of the deal,” Liu said. “If we had a class they wouldn’t be able to do that any more.”

Many other schools, such as Lynbrook, have already had a separate class period for Leadership. According to Liu, “their campuses reflect a more serious view of things like leadership, elections and school events.”

Although conflicting schedules between the Leadership class and sports have caused some students to think twice before signing up for leadership positions, Marshburn said the most devoted students won’t be deterred.

“If the student is really motivated and willing to be part of leadership, then the student will do whatever it takes to be part of that,” she said.