LM Oct 2025

Building Leaders and Connections: The Lasting Impact of a Student Leadership Program conference showcase

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on topics of need, such as preparing for final exams, balancing extracurriculars and academics at high school, facing adversity, etc. 3 To increase the effectiveness and comfort level of Link Crew student leaders and our freshmen, we incorpo rate periodic social events for all of them to gather as a larger community. Typically, they will plan for social events for a holiday (ie. holiday cookie decorating), an athletic competition (ie. student tailgate), and more. These events gather our leaders and freshmen in op portunities that do not normally occur naturally. Again, the student leaders facilitate these social gatherings. 4 To keep our Link Crew student leaders goal oriented and engaged, we promote their participation in the Annual Student Link Crew Conference for their own professional development. This conference is for Link Crew student leaders across the state to engage with one another, hear from speakers, get exposure to new practices to strengthen the overall program, and pro vide yet another leadership opportunity for our student leaders. 5 Lastly, when preparing for the IASA Annual Confer ence presentation, the staff and I included the Link Crew student leaders. They took the lead in presenting the content of the presentation; the staff and I were simply present to support the students. They were presented with the task of taking this concept and de termining how to share it with the key decision makers of a district to promote student leadership, facilitate freshmen success in transitioning to high school, and overall improving the climate and culture of a building. This was a task they took very seriously and WL is beyond proud of them for presenting this at IASA.

This presentation provides participants with the knowledge of a research-based model for a freshman mentoring program, including transformative outcomes and strategies to implement your own comprehensive transition program. Learn how student leadership initiatives create lasting connections, develop emerging leaders, and positively impact school culture at multiple levels. Hear directly from staff and students who have been impacted by the program and discover how these approaches can transform your building culture and student engagement. Presenters: Cheryl Warner, Superintendent; Erik Johansen, High School Teacher; Adriane Moody, High School Counselor; Allison Nolen, High School Principal — Warrensburg-Latham CUSD #11 1 One of the best methods in helping us to be success ful in growing our Link Crew Program and promoting student leadership was to use our daily 25 minute Uni versal Time schedule as a time in which all Link Crew student leaders meet with one of the certified staff Link Crew Sponsors. This daily time is spent on engaging in formal mentor training for the student leaders, getting consistent feedback from the leaders on the climate & culture in the building, and planning for extension activities of the program. 2 Besides the Orientation 2.0 that is designed specifically for team building between Link Crew student leaders and the incoming freshmen, our program integrates follow up extension opportunities. Student leaders plan push-in lessons they facilitate with our freshmen based

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