Leadership’s freeform schedule essential to its function

“If I wanted to do nothing for an hour and a half, I would have joined Leadership!”

That was the barb sophomore Cameron King jested at sophomore Homecoming Quad Day on Sept. 18.

The remark was typical perception among some students that the second-period class for members of the ASB, commissioners and class officers isn’t highly productive one, ASB vice president George Bian said. And while it may seem like hosting Leadership’s many events — school dances, prom, rallies and Homecoming, among others — does not require much effort, a lot of work is done behind the scenes in Leadership.

Leadership’s period is more free form and autonomous than most, but important deadlines still loom and the work and commitment required exceeds what is needed for most other classes. Class time is mostly spent planning activities and preparing for them, and students are expected to spend hours outside class doing similar work.

When the period starts, the teacher, activities director Matthew Torrens, and ASB hold a whole-class discussion of Leadership’s recent activities and make announcements.

ASB president Roshan Verma said that a typical discussion often starts with talking about current events and then moving onto commission presentations, fundraisers and donation drives.

“[A month ago] we were talking about ASB inflatable day and the Turkey Trot,” Verma said. “Afterward we would brainstorm ways to help the fire victims in Northern California and to keep our donation drive going.”

After 45 minutes of discussion, the whole-class meeting is dismissed and students meet in commissions of four to five members to plan future activities. They are free to go to any part of campus that they see fit after being dismissed from their classwide meeting, such as the library or the team room, Bian said.

For the rest of their period, each commission except ASB spends its time planning for future events. These commissions include: freshman, sophomore, junior and senior class office; dance; spirit and athletics; and rally and outreach commission.

Each commissioner is responsible for their commission for an entire year. Positions are chosen based on the previous year’s’ application and class and ASB officer elections. Freshmen are only allowed to be in Leadership if they are class officers.

Unlike other commissions, which are in charge of school activities, ASB is an overarching commission that oversees the others and provides additional help when needed.

Each member of ASB oversees a commission and is responsible for making sure that it meets its deadlines. Even so, responsibility is also delegated to the head commissioner, who is often an upperclassman with previous experience in that commission.

Apart from management, ASB is also responsible for the daily announcements broadcast from the main office, which feature campus events, birthdays and the ASB joke of the day as well as occasional videos for SHSTV.

Although the structure of the class is free form, Leadership still has ways to keep their members productive.

One way is through grades. After every six weeks in class, each leadership student except the ASB members write a self-reflection grading themselves on how they’ve contributed to their commission and the class.

Then, the self-reflections are given to ASB to evaluate. Once ASB finishes, they pass their feedback to Torrens, who renders a final verdict. ASB members themselves are graded by Torrens alone.

Besides grades, Verma said, many in Leadership are held accountable through a sense of duty to the school.

“We believe in your work ethic and ability. To not live up to, if not exceed those expectations is a disservice not just to yourself but also to your peers and the rest of this school,” Verma said.

The autonomy given to Leadership benefits it immensely, members said.

One specific benefit is the ability to start new initiatives like Movember and Trunk or Treat, Bian said. ASB often defers to each commission’s judgement in matters it is responsible for, so each commission has a high degree of autonomy even within the Leadership class.

“Each commission comes up with their own timeline and deadlines,” Bian said. “And if we come up with an idea and we all think it’s a good idea, ASB and Mr. Torrens will do anything in their power to make it happen.”

By organizing and fundraising school activities, Leadership students say they play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy campus culture. It demands a large degree of responsibility and commitment from each of its members. Most of all, Verma said, members need a passion for making an impact on the school.

“We are looking for people who actually want to make an impact on this campus and feel that they have the ideas and willingness to do so,” Verma said. “You have to be willing to put in the work and do the things that people may not notice.”