A significant part of Sky School’s work is centred around the understanding that everyone’s experiences, regardless of educational level, matters.
Although I have been part of many GC groups, personally, the atmosphere is what makes the Sky School student group so special. There are five grade nine students who have joined our group this year. Therefore, during the first session of the year, we discussed collaborative norms and set the tone; I explained that regardless of your role, named position or not, being part of the student group is an opportunity to lead and work together to achieve our shared goals.
This is extremely important to me because of my previous experiences in GCs; as a new member of a group made up of students from all grades of High School, it can be hard to provide contributions without feeling ignored.
Even as we developed the pilot module for the social entrepreneurship course last year, we knew that we wanted the same culture of collaboration to be encouraged among the students taking the course. I knew students who would take it would have experienced things most of us have never experienced and probably never will. Rather than trying to get students to get back to formal schooling and pretending as if nothing had happened, encouraging people to be social entrepreneurs means letting them know that their experiences are beyond valuable. Enabling people to see themselves collaborating with others to act on issues they see within their communities rather than simply feeling helpless can be life-changing. As a result, at the end of the pilot, students’ presentations also showcased a great deal of eagerness to share their new perspective, and the beginnings of service learning, which I’ve been fortunate to be a part of during my ten years here at UWCSEA East.
So in the spirit of Sky School’s aim to empower refugees, members of the student group all share one common belief: time spent in high school doesn’t correlate to one’s ability to take personal experiences and make unique contributions in order to support Sky School.
by Tomoko Miyakoshi, Grade 11 student
As you reflect back on the year, what are some of the successes you have had as you worked to keep that collaborative culture between the G9 and G11 students? What tips would you have to future co-chairs as they either continue this work or start this work?
It’s interesting to see how the nature of the student group promotes exactly what Sky School stands for – justice and equal opportunities. But I wonder if that’s always been successful and if so, what specific measures have been taken to ensure so?