At the Atlanta Girls’ School, learning leadership skills has been part of the mission since its founding 20 years ago. But starting this term, the focus has increased with the addition of Leadership Labs, regularly scheduled classes designed to get the sixth through 12th graders diving deep into concepts and practical applications.
“We’ve always had education around leadership skills, but over time, we realized it wasn’t having the reach we wanted,” said Roz Byrne, academic dean and interim lab director.
A consultant worked with a design team of faculty and staff members for almost a year to figure out ways to improve the curriculum around the topic. The concept of Leadership Labs was born, and with it came a new schedule that has labs meeting for 20 hours each quarter.
“Previously, our time was once a week to talk about these topics, and we didn’t feel that was consistent enough to build momentum,” said Byrne. “So we shifted out class schedules so the labs now meet with about the same frequency as other classes do. We’re using the time so much better by giving them space in the day to devote to practicing skills including public speaking and resume writing.”
One of the labs’ main goals is to connect the roughly 180-member student body with topics, ideas and people they likely wouldn’t encounter on their own.
“As an all-girls school with 50% students of color, we know our students are underrepresented in the workforce,” said Byrne. “We want to break down those barriers and connect students with community partners who can open their eyes to different skill sets.”
Students have been working with a venture capital company, visited the SCAD FASH museum and are about to partner with an aerospace engineering firm. Other sessions focus on preparing for college and internships.
Senior Nour Khalifa is taking a lab to help her write and deliver a speech to the entire school, a project every senior takes on. Having time to create the speech, workshop it and get coaching on presentation skills has made a significant difference in her confidence level, she said.
“I have definitely grown in my abilities from when I started her as a little eighth grader who didn’t do a lot of public speaking,” said the 17-year-old. “Having the lab has made me much more comfortable.”
Khalifa said her peers are enthused about the time devoted to leadership learning. “I’m excited about exploring and venturing into things I haven’t done before,” she said.
With the labs now an established part of the curriculum, students new this year will have the chance to complete 28 different courses around leadership before they graduate.
“Even now,” said Byrne, “they’ve been very happy with the options we have.”
Information about the Atlanta Girls’ School is online at atlantagirlsschool.org.
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