Becoming Leaders

Written by Alyssa Marshall ‘21
A daunting task lies ahead for me and the rest of the Greenwood’s Grade 11 students; becoming leaders within our school in our graduating year. On February 6, the Grade 11s headed off to Leaside Memorial Arena to complete our second of three leadership workshops that aim to improve our grade both as a whole, and as individuals. As Ms. Porter puts it, the Grade 12s effectively play a part in setting the tone for the school through actions and through their interactions with the younger students. 

As younger students, we marvelled at our Grade 12 leaders, amazed at their abilities and maturity - and soon, it will be our turn. Our teachers are working with our goofy, well-natured grade to prepare us to take leadership roles at school events like Mental Health Awareness Week, assemblies, Spirit Week, and many more. In our previous workshop, we worked on leadership skills in small groups, but was our first attempt at working together as a whole grade.

We started our afternoon on the ice with a freeskate session, showing off differing skating abilities. Skaters with a hockey or a figure-skating background helped less experienced skaters. We even managed to pull off a self-run game of Octopus involving both teachers and students. 

After our time on the ice, we headed inside to complete leadership workshops disguised as games. My favorite of the activities had us running down the hall trying to win in a large game of tic-tac-toe. After the game had finished, we were introduced to eight different leadership styles. As a group, we brainstormed leadership incidences that happened in various settings where no one consciously thought of leadership. 

Just the introduction to learning about leadership allows us to understand which leadership style we default to, and which ones we can bring to fruition. Other workshops included matching games that helped to identify the qualities of our grade and a game of charades to help with communication ideas. 

As for me, I remember coming to Greenwood in Grade 9 thinking I have a lot of time before I graduate, but now it is quite the opposite. The last three years have flown by and I can’t believe my last year at Greenwood is just around the corner. In the upcoming year I am looking forward to being on the Athletics Committee, continuing to be a leader on the hockey team, and going back to where it all started four years ago during Fall OE: Kilcoo. 

All I can say is the not-so-serious graduating class of 2021 is ready to lead in a dependable, zesty, and adventurous way.
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Greenwood College School

443 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto, ON M4S 2L8
Tel: 416 482 9811
We acknowledge with gratitude the Ancestral lands upon which our main campus is situated. These lands are the Ancestral territories of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Anishinabek and the Wendake. The shared responsibility of this land is honoured in the Dish with One Spoon Treaty and as settlers, we strive to care for the land, the waters, and all creatures in the spirit of peace. We are responsible for respecting and supporting the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. When away from this campus we vow to be respectful to the land by protecting and honouring it. We will create relationships with the people and the land we may visit by understanding the territories we enter and the nations who inhabit them.
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