Singapore American School’s fifth grade Student Leadership Club at the elementary school consists of students who are working to build their leadership skills through a variety of projects. Through this club, these fifth graders have the opportunity to take on leadership roles, collaborate as a team, and develop new skills that will serve them well in their future endeavors. All students are welcome to join the leadership club. Strong candidates are self-directed, responsible, and collaborative. 

Each semester, elementary school Deans of Student Life Dr. Sarah Farris and Jeff Scott, work with fifth grade students to teach and develop leadership skills. Across five weeks, students spend their lunch and recess once a week to work in groups as they develop these skills. At the end of five weeks, students break off into groups to focus on projects. These projects must bring joy, solve a problem, or make life easier for the community. The Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (CASEL) highlights the importance of student voice. Providing opportunities for student voice is essential because students are critical stakeholders in shaping decisions that impact the day-to-day life of the school and it can promote a sense of belonging and agency.

The club's projects have been diverse and have given students the opportunity to learn about different aspects of leadership. Through their work in the fifth grade Student Leadership Club, these students are learning valuable life skills that will serve them well in the future. They are gaining experience in planning, organizing, and working with others, as well as learning to take responsibility and make decisions. In addition to these practical skills, the club also focuses on developing SAS’s core values of compassion, fairness, honesty, respect, and responsibility, which are all essential leadership qualities.

During semester one, students started more than fifteen projects. Some of the projects include: 

“Winter Wonderland” Door Decorating Contest
All elementary school grade levels were invited to decorate their classroom doors for the holiday season. A fantastic way to bring the holiday spirit to SAS! 

Here are the winners for the 2022—23 door decorating contest: 
Kindergarten: Chen Laoshi
First grade: Teacher Lait and Ms. Fernandez (collaboration)
Second grade: Ms. Angle/Ms. Bellone
Third grade: Ms. Murray and Ms. Rigg-Anderson (tie for first place)
Fourth grade: Ms. Christiansen/Ms. Hopkins (collaboration) and Mr. Macdonell (tie for first place)
Fifth grade: Mr. Kish and Ms. Shanks (tie for first place)

Check out this video to get a glimpse of the decorations!

Eagle Postal Service
Students created a mailbox and delivered lots of mail written by students for anyone in the elementary school. This group worked really hard to ensure that the many pieces of mail were delivered just before winter break!

Workers' Lounge 
This group of students presented to elementary school deputy principal Mr. Ken Schunk and facilities director Mr. Simon Thomas. The students wanted to bring attention and joy to our maintenance and custodial staff. They did a wonderful job presenting and came up with some steps on how to bring joy and attention to these very important members of our school community. Mr. Thomas took the leaders on a tour of current spaces for our workers. 

Lunch Portions
This group of leaders presented to chief operations officer Mr. Matt Rogers, Hoe Brothers catering coordinator Mr. Hao, and elementary school principal Mr. David Hoss. They noticed that some students do not finish their lunch, which leads to food waste. Other students finish their lunch and are still hungry. They proposed that there could be small, medium, and large options for lunch portions. Mr. Rogers, Mr. Hao, and Mr. Hoss asked some great questions, and the leaders will continue to collaborate on the next steps to take. 

More than 100 students across seven classes signed up for the fifth grade Student Leadership Club during the first semester! We are excited for the next round of students in semester two of the 2022—23 school year.