Sydenham students climb the ropes to leadership-one step at a time

Oct 20, 2011

Photo: Students on the high ropes course

“Leadership camp is a place where preconceived ideas about leadership and other barriers are broken down”, said Sydenham High School teacher and leadership camp staff supervisor, Kim Kippen.

Along with co-staff supervisor, Don Lalonde, Kippen oversaw a two-day camp for 70 Sydenham High School students on Oct. 18 and 19 at Camp IAWAH, located off the Westport Road, east of Godfrey.

The leadership camp, which has been running for years at Sydenham HS, aims to impart leadership skills to students from all areas of the school by offering concrete examples of leadership through a series of hands-on activities and discussions. Groups of students from grades 9 through 11 were invited by teachers to attend the camp.

The camp is led by four teacher-nominated grade 12 students. The four leaders were Calista Vogelzang, Cia Myles-Gonzalez, David Amos and Shayna Joron, and they were supported by additional grade 12 students who supervised the various activities.

This year’s camp theme, initiated by the four camp leaders, was titled “The Next Step” and it was designed for the students to explore and experience the defining qualities of leadership: initiative, perspective, setting goals, teamwork, overcoming obstacles, setting examples, and self-improvement. The ideas were discussed and also demonstrated through a series of activities that each student had a chance to participate in.

For the segment on perseverance and overcoming obstacles, students completed a relay obstacle course where a pair of students was tied together by one hand, and had no choice but to use their communication skills in order to successfully complete the course. Following the obstacle course students discussed what kind of communications worked well and what did not.

On the high ropes course, students faced a number of daunting aerial challenges that had them working in teams suspended on ropes high above the tree tops. Student organizer, David Amos, said he felt that the participating students benefited greatly from the camp. “One important idea they learn is that they are able to set goals for themselves and they also take what they have learned here back into the community.”

Shayna Joron agreed. “These skills can really help them to prepare to face challenges in their own lives.” “And they come to realize that anyone has the ability to become a good leader, even the quiet students,” Calista Vogelzang added.

Sydenham High School teacher, Beth Barz, who coaches with the Queen’s University women’s rugby team, the national rugby program and also at Sydenham High, was invited as the guest speaker. She shared some of the wisdom she has accumulated while attending a workshop for female coaches of national teams, particularly what coach Melody Davidson of the Canadian women’s hockey team imparted to her.

“I spoke to them about how Melody brought the team to victory, first with thorough planning and also by reviewing their performances.”

Beth Barz feels that the camp gives students something they might not otherwise get during regular school hours.

“Anytime students can get out of the school setting they are able to think a little bit differently. They are able to challenge themselves in different ways and this gives them a sense of autonomy over how and what they learn. We are recognizing more and more that students need that autonomy, which sometimes, academically they do not always get.”

Kim Kippen agreed.

“It's an incredible opportunity for students who may have never had this kind of experience before to reevaluate their own preconceived ideas of leadership and what it means. Each student tends to build on what they already know so while each student’s experience at the camp is different, it always tends to be a very positive and memorable one.”

Student organizer David Amos had the final word and mentioned that what likely makes students so eager to participate is that “the whole camp revolves around demonstrating leadership ideas in a really fun environment, which I believe is what makes the camp so successful.”