On November 16, Farmington High School (FHS) club leaders attended the school’s first ever leadership symposium. They collaborated at the Farmington Public Library during periods 6 and 7 to figure out ways each club could reach certain goals for the rest of the school year and beyond.
Each club leader was assigned a group based on their club category. Such categories included common interest, humanities, leadership, music/art, service, social justice/culture, and STEM. Within these clusters, students introduced their clubs and their goals for the upcoming year. Many clubs had the common goal of increasing membership.
“There are so many similarities between club missions, goals, and events, so this was a great place to put those out and see how we could collaborate!” Eira Prakash, Executive Student Council President, stated.
Club leaders were provided lunch from George’s Pizza & Restaurant, consisting of pizza, chips, and grinders. Next, each group returned to create a plan.
“The ‘service group’ which consisted of honors societies as well as clubs like Ambassadors and Generations, had the idea to make a ‘service council’ that would plan events together to share volunteers,” Prakash added.
In addition, a variety of categories planned for future workshops, meetings, and events. Diana Barroso, club leader for Sandy Hook Promise and participant in the event talked about her own experience from the common interest category.
“One idea we had was to do a fundraising and community event in the spring,” Barroso stated.
I also talked with Christopher Loomis, Student Activities Director of FHS. He, along with Mr Crist and several students, took time to plan the whole event beforehand.
“The theme was “Think Big” and we wanted students to have as much freedom as possible when creating events in order to produce the best outcomes for FHS and the community.” Loomis stated. All together, the seven clusters came up with a variety of future events or activities for 2024 and 2025.
The first ever leadership symposium helped several clubs get the boost they will need to go about the rest of the school year. From workshops to future events, the symposium encouraged collaboration for all.
