Bernard Zell students practice our value of leading the way in many contexts. One group in particular which stands out for taking on the mantle of leadership for the sake of giving back to the school community, is the Middle School Student Council.

This dedicated group is composed of ten 5th and 6th grade students, including three of whom hold grade-level representative positions that they campaigned for in the fall. They meet bimonthly during their lunch and recess periods to exercise leadership and decision-making on behalf of the Middle School student body.

In the fall, the Student Council focused on teambuilding, learning about different avenues for change-making, and brainstorming different possibilities for their work during the year. Leading into winter, they began to exercise their leadership muscles by learning to weigh competing priorities. The Student Council took on the role of researching and determining the organizations that would be the recipients for both the school-wide philanthropic Tamchui project as well as the Bernard Zell Annual Day of Service.

For Tu B’Shevat they developed and led a thematic dirt cup sale, offering an opportunity for an introduction to basic marketing and economics, as well as hands-on experience with planning, executing, and debriefing a multi-stage project.

Now that they have some of these basic skills under their belts, they have expanded in recent weeks into working in small teams on projects of their choosing that serve the student body and the school.

Here are some of the exciting projects they are working on: creating two-way information systems for sharing out news and bringing in student feedback, offering student-centered material to aid the fourth grade step-up to middle school, and exploring different ways to lift school spirit and benefit the school philanthropically.

We are proud of our Student Council’s leadership this year and can’t wait to see all of the ways they continue to serve our school and the wider community!