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Student Leadership
In all spaces where we work, including classrooms and the outdoors, we trust students to take ownership of their learning and act as agents of change in their communities.
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Julie Benns
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When adults talk less, students lead more.
Students want and need to be co-creators of their own learning in environments where their voices are heard and valued. In Crew, classrooms and the outdoors, we foster leadership spaces where students can build critical thinking and communication skills, take risks, and fail safely before entering the real world.
Student voices are centered through practices like student-led Crew meetings, student-led conferences, portfolio presentations, and outdoor adventure, providing opportunities for young people to develop leadership skills, build confidence and reflect on their learning and growth. In addition to supporting schools to build the capacity for these practices, we provide students with direct opportunities through our Youth Development Professional Pathway (YDPP), which includes our Student Advisory and Youth Crew Leadership programs.
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Eric Vitale
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Youth Development Professional Pathway
Student Advisory Council
The Student Advisory Council brings together students from our network of schools across the city to play an important role in shaping the educational experience at their schools! These students speak on behalf of their peers and provide guidance, feedback and leadership on NYC Outward Bound Schools’ approach to working with students, teachers and schools.
Photo credit
Julie Benns
Youth Development Professional Pathway
Youth Crew Leadership
Youth Crew Leadership (YCL) is a year-long program that offers the training, support and leadership development for students to facilitate and lead Crew at their school.
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See Student Leadership in Action
See how our partner schools are centering students through their restorative justice practices, role model programs and classroom units that focus on advocacy.
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School-based opportunities for student leadership
Student-led Crew meetings
One of the goals of Crew at our partner schools is to support a space where students feel safe and confident enough to lead the Crew sessions themselves. Some of the structures that support this goal are clear routines and protocols that foster student voice and engagement, as well as intentionally planned debriefs that require students to think about what they’ve learned, make connections and share out.
Student-led conferences
At many partner schools, our students take part in student-led conferences in lieu of more traditional parent-teacher conferences. During SLCs, students select and present examples of their work, including successes and failures. Students take ownership of their own learning, publicly reflecting on and communicating what they’ve learned, in what ways they need to grow, and how they plan to do so to a panel of their teachers, advisors and parents.
Portfolio presentations
During these presentations, students use a portfolio of selected work they have already reflected on as evidence to demonstrate their readiness to move on to the next level of their education and present their journey to an audience of teachers, family and community members.
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Outdoor adventure opportunities for student leadership
In each of our Outdoor Adventure programs, there are opportunities for students to step into their growth zones and experiment with leadership roles.
Through communications-based team challenges that require students to step up and coordinate decisions for the team
Opportunities to belay peers on the climbing wall
Our students are challenged and supported to lead in the outdoors, and then bring these new skills back to the classroom.
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