By Annie Stonebarger
As a leader at Berkeley High, I define leadership as a role that one plays in a community to set an example for everyone else. At Berkeley High specifically, leadership is important because we have a lot of school spirit so having leaders to show how to express that in a safe and fun way is crucial. Leadership is giving everyone a safe space to express their ideas while still keeping everything constructive. My favorite leadership quote is that “a leader is someone who demonstrates what’s possible” (unknown), because I think that it is possible to gain a greater community at BHS and that leadership is doing a good job demonstrating that.
This year I observed that there is a lot more happening in leadership than in previous years. I have seen a lot of great events planned by the sophomore team, and the freshman seem excited about them. Juniors and Seniors feel very unified, but not against the lower classman, and that has been really nice to watch.
I believe that this happened because of the planning that the leadership teams did for fun events, and because the Berkeley High community has really grown to be more inclusive over the past two years.
This does happen outside of school because I see grades mixing outside of school because of clubs and activities, and people who have electives together become friends. My dance class is such a community ranging from freshman to seniors, and everyone is treated with the same respect and attention that they deserve, which carries on in everyone’s attitudes outside of school.
The key to leadership is being able to build a community, and I think that the senior class has done a good job of that this year. For example, on rally day, we had a very successful time with no one feeling targeted. I talked to freshman and they felt safe. I think that this is because the seniors this year have been very inclusive and don’t think of themselves as better because they are older. Obviously this is not the case for all seniors, but even having a small group to look up to as a freshman is nice.
I can apply this in the future by remembering that someone will always be looking up to me as a role model and that I should always act in ways that I would want someone to have treated me when I was younger.
I would define leadership as a group of people who care about the school and the people in it, and want to foster a close community based on respect.