Feature Article by Lyn Fiscus

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Making A Lasting Difference

Student activity advisors are in the unique position of being able to affect all students on campus through their work with student leaders. The impact you have on the individual student leaders with whom you work can be significant and lasting, but others on campus are also reached through the programs your organization sponsors. You have the potential to make a lasting difference not only on the individual level, but also on your program and on the school and community.

Individual Level

The most lasting difference you can make is to teach the student leaders with whom you work how to be leaders. Be an advisor--facilitate their learning so they are the ones who plan and carry out the work of your organization under your guidance. Too many advisors get caught up in a product-oriented philosophy of activities, focusing on the end result of having the dance, or food drive, or whatever the activity is. This type of advisor will step in to tell students what to do and how to do it to ensure that the event happens, or even do the work him or herself.

The process-oriented advisor will let the student leaders figure things out, providing guidance and direction but allowing them to do the work themselves. The things they learn through planning and carrying out student activities will be invaluable to them as they go through adulthood, both in their careers and in their personal lives.

You can also make a lasting difference by encouraging your student leaders to consider education as a career. Talk about the difference you can make in people’s lives by teaching. Let them see why you think it’s a good career choice.

Program Level

Several things can be done on the program level to have a lasting impact:

Plan for continuity--establish a transition process that will enable you to keep building on your success, not starting over each year. Some elements of the transition process that should be included are:

• Officers should keep notebooks to hand on to their successors.
• Maintain project files each year on all projects--learn from the mistakes and successes and be sure to record your evaluations on paper.
  
• Provide officer training and new member orientation.

Create a cycle of development by working with younger students. Provide leadership workshops for the elementary and middle level kids that are lead by your student leaders.  It’s a great opportunity for the high school or middle level student leaders to show what they know and give back something to their school community.  It will help start building the level of talent so that when the younger kids reach you they’ll be a step ahead and you won’t have to start from scratch with them.

Build a tradition of pride.  Keep records from year to year of what was accomplished--say, 500 lbs of food was collected this year in the food drive--so that next year you can strive to improve. As part of the tradition, keep a permanent record in a public place--in a display case, on a plaque, painted on a wall, a banner hanging in the gym, etc.--and add to it every year.  Who won spirit week?  Who collected the most canned food? There should be a record of these accomplishments somewhere that can be referred back to. Create lasting traditions by helping people feel a part of something bigger than themselves.

School and Community Level

Some ideas for making a lasting difference at this level include:

• Consider developing an alumni association to keep track of graduates and be able to tap into their expertise as they go into careers. Private schools often do this, but there’s no reason why public schools can’t also do it.
  
• Give a lasting gift to the school each year--add a bench to a courtyard, plant a tree, donate books to the library.
  
• Consider the service projects you undertake in the community.  What are the service needs of your community, from infants through senior citizens? You can make a lasting difference in the lives of people who need your help through the service projects your group undertakes.  At the same time, you will build a strong connection between the school and the community.
  

When students graduate and move on with their lives, the things they look back and remember are often the activities they were involved in, not the classes they sat through. You can make a lasting difference in the lives of all the students on your campus by thoughtfully providing a full year’s worth of activities that create a positive school climate in which everyone plays a part.  Decide how you will have a lasting impact on your school’s climate with the activities you sponsor all year.

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Lyn Fiscus is a former leadership teacher, student activities advisor, and editor of Leadership for Student Activities magazine. She currently manages Leadership Logistics, a company she founded in 2004, which provides writing, editing, training, and consulting services to support positive youth development.You can e-mail her at lyn@alliance4studentactivities.org.