Nearly 800 students and teachers from across Canada will descend on the Weyburn Comprehensive School (WCS) for a national leadership conference in 2012, but before any of that can happen, an “enormous” amount of planning must take place first.
The school will be hosting the 27th annual Canadian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC) from Sept. 25-29, 2012, with roughly 600 Grade 9-12 Student Representative/Advisory Council students and 200 teacher advisors from across the country attending.
For WCS teachers and SRC advisors Joanne Jensen and Margot Arnold, the planning for this “massive” undertaking has been ongoing since the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.
Along with the educational aspect of the conference, they have to organize socials and entertainment each night, including a banquet at the end. However, both advisors have experience organizing an event of this magnitude.
WCS held the provincial SLC in 2008, which featured nearly 1,000 students and teacher advisors over a three-day period. It was this event which attracted the attention of the national organization which addresses the leadership needs of SRCs and student council advisors and sponsors CSLC.
The two were asked if they would be willing to host the national conference and, after a meeting in Toronto, WCS was awarded the event in January 2010.
“We’re very excited. We know we did a great job in 2008. We just want to make this even better,” said Arnold. They understand what they are undertaking and while this is bigger, they are confident they can do it.
“We were a little scared in 2008,” added Jensen, “(but) now it’s more excitement.”
One of the major aspects of the conference will be finding six to eight keynote speakers. Arnold and Jensen travelled to San Diego, Calif., in March to attend the California Association of Directors of Activities state convention, where they attempted to find individuals who could speak on issues such as social awareness, motivation, challenges and leadership development.
Jensen pointed out schools in South East Cornerstone could also benefit from having the speakers visit them after the conference.
By building the youths’ skills during the conference, Jensen continued, they can take on leadership roles within society, in such fields as politics, business and education. The co-chairs hope students acquire the tools of public speaking, organizational skills, teamwork and leadership skills.
“It’s really exciting. There is so much energy and enthusiasm and motivation (at the event),” added Arnold. “It’s hard to imagine it until you’re a part of it.”
Every student at WCS will be expected to participate and have a role, similar to how everyone got involved in 2008. The co-chairs have found teachers to chair the 22 conference committees and will have to find students to work on those committees. The two SRC advisors will sit on all committees, though, and monitor each one.
One issue the organizers will have to take into account is the fact the Weyburn Comp will be in the middle of its long-planned renovations when the SLC occurs. Depending on how construction is going, they might have to look elsewhere to hold such events as the banquet and socials.
But Jensen pointed out she and Arnold are good problem solvers and will work with the community to solve that problem.
Arnold explained she and Jensen will have to put in “hours and hours” outside of their school day for planning, in addition to the one-day-off-per-month meetings they hold. Near the end of the 2008 provincial SLC, they calculated they had literally worked on the conference for a year-and-a-half.
During that SLC, they slept at the school many nights during planning sessions, Jensen said. They worked until nearly 5 a.m. before going for breakfast and then coming back to teach. Co-workers even joked about being able to drive by the school at any hour and seeing their vehicles still there.
“We ate, slept and breathed conference!” Arnold added, which is something they will most likely have to do again for this conference, the closer they get to the event kickoff.