By: Dean Johnson, Follow South Jersey Editor
Editor’s note: Dean Johnson works for Camden’s Charter School Network.
CAMDEN, NJ – While most high school students look forward to the weekend as a break from school, fourteen students from Camden Academy Charter School, part of Camden’s Charter School Network in Camden, are spending their weekend learning about leadership at the National LEAD Conference in Washington, D.C.
The annual LEAD Conference (LEAD stands for Leadership, Experience and Development), which runs from February 27 to March 1 this year, connects over 2,000 students from across the country to hear from nationally recognized speakers and choose from over 60 workshops designed to spark inspiration and build practical strategies, according to the LEAD Conference website.
“The goal is to provide skills that the youth can use to help demonstrate their leadership within their schools,” Dara Ash, co-principal of Camden Academy Charter High School, said.
Years ago, when Ash joined the National Association of Secondary School Principals, sponsor of the conference, she saw that they had a wealth of different opportunities not just for administrators and teachers but also for students including the LEAD Conference.
“I am hoping that [the students] are inspired and motivated to make a positive change in the school environment. The goal is to create more student leaders,” Ash said. “The individual leadership skills that they’re going to learn can not only enhance what we have at the school, but also enhance themselves as individuals.”
“I want to get a lot of networking done,” Roselyn Rodriguez, 11th grade, said. “I want to meet people and learn from them, see how they work and think because there are going to be people from a bunch of different places.”
Twelfth grader Alaynah Roman said that she is excited to meet new people from across the country.
“I’m looking forward to meeting different leaders, just many different people in different fields and to just see how their different skills can also help me in the future,” Roman said.
Nayla Figeroua sees the conference as a confidence builder.
“I hope to build better relationships with other people in student government because, as a freshman, I do want to put myself out there, and I want to build more relationships with other people,” Figeroua said. “I hope maybe to find something in myself that I haven’t seen. Like, I want to improve my confidence and my public speaking skills and other things like that.”
Jaelyn Azcona, 12th grade, sees the conference as an opportunity to learn and then to give back.
“When I first started in student government, I had a lot of mentoring,” Azcona said. “People saw a lot of potential in me. I do see a lot of potential in some of my peers, the younger ones, and I want to tell them how much they could do.”
The day before the ninth through twelfth grade students embarked on their trip to the nation’s capital, they visited Escape Room Mystery in Cherry Hill to hone their teamworking and group dynamic skills.
Figueroa said that participating in the escape room helped her understand better how to work with others as a leader.
“It helped me understand how my other peers in student government work and how they understand different things because everyone understands things differently and comprehends and learns everything in a different way,” Figueroa said.
Rodgriguez said she liked the way the escape room made her think.
“It made me think a little bit better, but it also made me realize I have terrible survival skills. I need to work more on my survival skills,” Roman said. “But I think it challenges your brain and puts you in a position where you have to think about life survival goals.”
Solving the puzzles that open doors in the escape room was one of the best parts for Roman.
“The doors opening made me feel really excited like I was a child again because I love doing puzzles,” Roman said. “So, anytime I got to finish a puzzle [in the escape room], it got me really excited to go on to the next puzzle and then figure that one out. It’s the feeling of succeeding, but also excited for the next adventure.”
Ash said that the conference will not only teach the students skills that will make them stronger leaders in the school but also in the future.
“Our ultimate goal here is that when the students get out of high school, they have a plan,” Ash said. “This is going to motivate them to be able to understand their place not only in the school but in society and the world.”
Roman said that while she plans on majoring in psychology in college next year, participating in student government will be beneficial.
“Student government is definitely helping me a lot with the understanding of how different people comprehend different things and how psychology is a main factor in it,” Roman said. “How they react to certain things, whether that’s being under pressure. Even for me. How I handle certain things, how others do, and how we all work together. So I believe that student government can help me better understand my field and better understand people.”
After the conference, the students will work on a multimedia project to present to the school’s Board of Education about their experience and what they learned at the conference.
Check out the pictures below from the escape room.
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