Students become teachers; teachers become students
Student Leadership Team panel, group leaders guide vertical team through discussion on student success, equity
Student Leadership Team logistics manager Emily Arndt leads her afternoon group in a conversation about student success and equity. “While being online may have made it a bit harder for people to be vulnerable, my group was absolutely great, and we were able to have awesome conversations,” Arndt said.
January 9, 2021
The McCallum vertical team assembled for a staff training session on Tuesday. This time, however, it wasn’t adults leading the meeting: rather, it was the student leadership team.
I was nervous at first because I knew we would be talking to hundreds of teachers, but it ended up going really well.
— junior Naya Domingo
The training session consisted of a student panel and student-lead circles discussing topics including success and equity. For senior Naya Domingo, the panel provided an opportunity to both share and listen to the different stories of students.
“The panel was so fun,” Domingo said. “I was nervous at first because I knew we would be talking to hundreds of teachers, but it ended up going really well. It was so nice to share my experiences and hear my peer’s experiences as well.”
Senior and student leadership team logistics officer Emily Arndt said that while holding the meeting on Zoom made conversation in her circle a little tricky at times, she is proud of what she and her other team members accomplished.
“While being online may have made it a bit harder for people to be vulnerable, my group was absolutely great, and we were able to have awesome conversations about student success and equity,” Arndt said. “I’m glad we did this and I know the teachers were able to take something from it.”
English teacher Amy Smith believes the knowledge she gained from the student-lead panels and circles will translate well into her teaching.
“Not only was it informative for my planning and teaching, it was inspiring and affirming to hear such wise words from our students,” Smith said. “The day made me so proud to be a teacher at McCallum.”
