Student Leadership Class Ends

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Elective classes fluctuate in size and availability due to budget constraints, but rarely are they discontinued after one year, as is the case with Student Leadership.

Co-taught by Katherine Gross and Farron Riggs, the class was launched this year and contained about 32 upperclassmen, with a loose curriculum and a strong focus on the students taking a leadership role and being activists within the school.

One way the students became active in school events was by planning the homecoming pep-rally. The class spent multiple weeks preparing every aspect of the spirited event that kicked off homecoming weekend. The pep-rally featured a student-staff basketball game, spirited chants, and even a mascot fight between the RM Rocket and the Rockville Ram. Junior Student-Leadership member Adam Sarsony got the chance to help choreograph this iconic mascot-battle.

“The fight was so epic and fun it didn’t even feel like ‘classwork’ to plan,” Sarsony said. “I got to work with kids from the drama department and train them as fighters. In the end the entire school got hyped off of it so I would say it was a success.”

In addition to planning events within the school, the class also frequently held debate-seminars on current RHS policy, such as student parking and the length of school lunch. Riggs felt these debates were especially important, as he would listen to their ideas and convey them back to the higher authorities within Rockville. During a debate on student parking, Riggs was able to take the students solution and offer it to the administration at RHS.

“The classroom discussions were so important because instead of simply complaining, these students could build off their own ideas to fix the problems they’re having,” Riggs said. “They came up with the idea of slot-based parking instead of the free-for-all that exists now, and it is something the administration will now consider switching to.”

The student-leadership class also acted as an outlet for support for student run projects, such as volunteer work and charity drives. Senior Madison Cary ran a charity drive for housing essentials for previously homeless people in the area and promoted the project in-class with the help of senior classmate Raquel Gleicher. Raquel used the broad student outreach from the class to make her charity drive a success, as she collected seven large baskets of home essentials for the previously homeless.

“During class, we were able to use our time to help the cause by making and distributing awareness posters around the school,” Gleicher said. “We also reached out on the RHS morning announcements to advertise it, which is another reason I feel that the charity drive was so successful.”