Lauren Yang | Freelance Reporter
Menlo School’s Student Council recently hosted the first Interscholastic Leadership Summit on March 16. Representatives from Priory, Castilleja, and Crystal Springs arrived Sunday at lunchtime to discuss various topics. Schools Menlo-Atherton and Sacred Heart Prep were invited as well, but they did not attend the meeting.
The event, which was founded this year, aims to provide local schools a place to share solutions on current issues. The forum-like summit idea was introduced early in the school year. Junior Griffin Scheinman, the leader of the committee, decided to implement the proposal since he found it “intriguing,” Scheinman said. The Interscholastic Leadership Summit was established to “ receive feedback from other independent schools…, offer advice to them, and create a sense of unity between the schools,” junior Rebecca Shoch said. The initial meeting proved to be beneficial to both Menlo and visiting schools. Various topics that all schools could relate to were discussed, such as “school spirit and academic policies,” Shoch said. Council members also brainstormed on activities that multiple schools could participate in. “Some of the best ideas were joint 5k fundraiser runs, collaboration on academic resources, shared internship databases, and inter-school competitions.” Scheinman said. Menlo representatives not only received advice from others, but gave suggestions as well. To address serious issues, Menlo participants recommended holding “class meetings that were led by student council members … [because these meetings] created an intimacy and type of trust that allowed us to progress on the issue,” junior Alexandra Walker said.
The Leadership Summit created an open atmosphere to collaboration and encouraged many representatives to share ideas. The event “was very casual and everyone felt comfortable talking,” Shoch said. “The size of the summit was also ideal…because it completely minimized chaos and allowed for a sense of intimacy and connection between councils,” Walker added.
At the conclusion of the summit, members were keen on the idea of meeting again. “We want to meet at least one more time during the last quarter and once over summer” Shoch said. Committee members are satisfied with how the first meeting went and are eager to put their words into actions. “In the future we need to focus on making tangible progress on our joint ventures, but the first meeting was a healthy place to simply suggest ideas for collaboration.” Scheinman said.
A lot of planning was involved to create this successful event, as preparations started as early as December. Members of a student council committee had “to choose the schools we wanted to include, pick a date, [and] write and rewrite the invitation,” Shoch said, “The whole process took a few months.” Planning the summit was not entirely smooth sailing, as the committee ran into several unforeseen challenges. “Probably the most difficult, if trivial, task was finding a date that worked for representatives from our school as well as other schools.” Scheinman said. Some other difficulties included “determining a structure and talking points for the meeting,” Scheinman added.
The Student Council Interscholastic Leadership Summit proved to be a successful event that aims to improve the academic and social lives of local high school students.
