The StreetSquash Student Leadership Committee (SLC) is a way to empower StreetSquash participants and give them a voice for certain aspects of programming. The SLC consists of student leaders elected by their peers, tasked with fundraising, planning program-wide activities and trips, and organizing community service projects.
Elections were held in April to pick the leaders who will represent the SLC for the 2024-2025 school year. In May, those elected to serve embarked on a leadership retreat to prepare for their respective roles.
At a boardroom in Midtown on a Saturday afternoon, the nine student leaders along with two staff liaisons met to discuss the expectations and by-laws for the SLC, various leadership styles, and conflict resolution techniques.
“The point of the retreat was to provide leadership skills that they’ll be using on the SLC,” Kerisha Lewis, StreetSquash’s Career Development Coordinator said. “It was also to provide a sense of team so they can express themselves professionally, and make sure they’re listening to each other.”
Kerisha and Academic Coordinator Clara Greenstein are the two staff members who oversee the SLC.
One of the first activities was an icebreaker intended for those present to find unique and unexpected similarities between themselves. Kaito N., who will serve as the High School Recreation Representative next school year was shocked to discover that he was not the only member of the SLC who is, to put it in his words, “a Monopoly genius.” He also found multiple peer-leaders who share a fondness for the color purple.
SLC members were also given four different types of leadership styles that were separated into color groups. Kaito learned he was part of the “green group,” a leadership style that is driven by logic.
Journeih S., elected to the position of Ambassador, learned that she fit the blue leadership style group, meaning that she leads through creativity, sympathy, and enthusiasm. But she says she feels like an orange leader who is typically competitive and adventurous in their decision-making.
“Blue is the person that I want to be, but orange is the person that I am,” Journeih said.
Meanwhile, Taylor S., elected to be the Team 2 Representative and will enter her freshman year of high school next year, says this workshop taught her to be more descriptive in how she communicates.
“It’s important to make sure the other person knows what point you’re trying to get across,” Taylor said. “But you also have to be able to interpret the other person’s perspective.”
Steffany S., who will also be a freshman next year and will serve as the Team 3 Representative added, “I now know how to approach people respectfully. We learned how to resolve issues without screaming at each other.”
“The conversations we had as a team were really good,” said Thomas O., a senior next year who will serve as the High School Performance Representative. “The major takeaway for me was knowing that StreetSquash is willing to make change and is giving students a voice.”
The meeting overall had a level of professionalism that the SLC members appreciated.
“I loved the structure of the meeting,” Journeih said. “It felt like everybody had a say.”
“It was definitely more formal than the student government I had in middle school,” Kaito added.
“Everyone was really friendly with one another,” Kerisha said. “As the day went on, everyone grew closer. So that was cool to see.”
Julian C., a senior next year who will serve as co-chair, learned a lot from the retreat.
“It was very insightful,” Julian said. “We learned how to properly conduct a meeting while developing leadership skills along the way.”
Angela R., also a senior next year will serve as the other co-chair.
“I got to know the people I’ll be working with next year,” Angela said. “That was very valuable.”
“It’s important to know the type of people you’re working with and yourself,” Julian added. “It allows us to do more innovative things that will push StreetSquash to be a better place.”
