Last week was National Student Leadership Week. To celebrate, we showed our #CPSDPride by giving a #SuperSchoolShoutout to the Oakbrook Elementary School and Harrison Preparatory (HP) School ASB teams.
The Oakbrook ASB team is run by the President Anne Tu, Treasurer Juleia Quenga, Secretary Kaylynn Hart, and Vice President Sefiliga McCormick.
They use their voice to represent all students and are responsible for leading school assemblies each month. “We also support our advisor Ms. Thompson, and we try to do things that people appreciate us for,” Secretary Hart said. “There are a lot of learning experiences here at Oakbrook, and every day, we have the ability to grow as learners and to grow as leaders.”
These girls are proud of the way they have improved their teamwork over time, perfected their public speaking skills, developed problem-solving skills and learned how to be effective student leaders.
“I wanted to become president because I knew I had a loud voice, and I really wanted to participate at school,” President Tu said. “I’m proud that I’ve gotten to use my voice by speaking at assemblies because, honestly, I used to be a quiet kid, and now I’m more confident.”
Like all CPSD schools, student voice is celebrated at Oakbrook and used to inform school culture and policies to make sure all students feel supported and represented. “A lot of students have a lot of opinions, and they don’t always speak up,” Vice President McCormick said. “Teachers can’t read our minds, so I like helping and being a role model.”
Treasurer Quenga is a military child and felt it was important to use her voice on the ASB to represent her peers. Her favorite memory this year was when the military band performed for Oakbrook students to celebrate military kids. “And when we celebrated April as the Month of the Military Child, we also decided to wear purple to show school spirit,” she said.
The HP ASB team is run by Vice President Alli Laska, Secretary Alexis Lynn, President Rubi Pelayo and Treasurer Lola Stephens.
Each of these young leaders have been involved in leadership since they were in middle school and feel like it greatly shaped their school experience. “I’ve really learned to think creatively,” President Palayo said. “I wanted to be president to uplift other people’s ideas and find creative solutions to advocate for everyone.”
This team knows the importance of student voice at a school with a small, tight-knit community. They take their role as student advocates seriously and understand that they represent all students from sixth grade onward.
“Student input is important because it gives students the chance to feel like their voice truly matters,” Secretary Lynn said. “If you don’t feel seen you might feel invalidated, so our representation helps other students feel like they belong in a community.”
These ASB representatives use their voice in different ways by organizing assemblies, participating in school events and supporting their classmates. A unique opportunity for these students this year was the chance to speak at a Lakewood City Council meeting. “It was my favorite thing we did,” Treasurer Stephens said. “Alli and I spoke about the levy, and it was a cool opportunity to show a student perspective on a local issue.”
Leadership is an opportunity for students to make a difference in their school community and this ASB is a great example of what happens when students take the lead. “I would see people upset about things going on in school and I wanted people to feel more safe, seen and comfortable here,” Vice President Laska said.
Go Student Leaders!
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