Quiet Opportunities for Leadership

From the desk of John Ashton…

A part of my school’s mission is the commitment to prepare students to assume positions of responsibility and leadership in an ever changing world, and recently I was asked “what that looks like?” The most evident answer is found among the many clubs, teams, and student boards that provide opportunities for students to hold formal leadership positions. However, at a recent Upper School Assembly, I was reminded that the most available opportunities to lead, and perhaps the most influential, occur daily as students make decisions regarding their commitment to academic integrity.
During our first Upper School Assembly, the Honor Council demonstrated situations that could lead to academic dishonesty. The purpose was to encourage their peers to act with integrity at all times and to seek help when they feel pressured to cut a corner for a short term gain. The skits were relevant, and the commentary by the Honor Council Chair was thoughtful. The Honor Council made clear that the decisions students make in these moments strengthen or undermine their integrity as well as the integrity of our community. The message was not just about what an individual loses by choosing to be dishonest but also about what we lose as a community. Watching the portrayal of these situations affirmed for me that decisions our students make in these moments require great courage and a commitment to integrity – two essential qualities for leadership.
To close the Assembly, 483 students stood and read aloud the Honor Code in which each student pledged “[…] to do justice to my community, to my peers, and to myself [and] pledge[d] to respect the trust invested in me as a student, acknowledging that my conduct in school will lay the foundation for a life-long commitment to integrity.” I hope when faced with difficult decisions about right and wrong, each student will hear the support of her 482 classmates to do the right thing – to summon the courage to lead in these private moments – and to recognize the influence of her decision on all of us.