Passion’s Role in Culminating Leadership Projects
The end of the semester in the Capstone Leadership Course is a time of excitement, creation, and self-direction. Students are currently in the process of developing their Culminating Leadership Project (CLP), a peak experience for students not only in their leadership classroom at Alzar School, but in their lives. Students come into the semester with ideas of their projects, but they are often surprised to find out that deciding on a project idea is one of the last steps.
Everyone has a purpose in life and a unique talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.
Kallam Anji Reddy
As is similar for many around our world, what we are most passionate about is currently not available to us. Our friends, our families, our favorite stores, sports, parks, trails, rivers, classes, and more are bringing awareness to what we truly are passionate about, and what we can live without. I have faith that this semester’s students will be able to work towards serving communities through their passions more than ever. The above quote inspires the process that students take when developing their CLPs. Students will spend the coming week thinking about what they love doing, and more specifically why. Zeke might ask himself what parts of teaching tennis continuously bring him back to the court. Sofia may be curious about why she loves spending so much time at her work on Orcas Island, Kaia will think about skiing while Kai thinks about climbing, and Campbell will explore what parts of camp she is most passionate about.
Leaders, but especially young ones, are needed now more than ever in our world. Students are being asked to lead in ways that they have never had to before, showing up to virtual classes when it is optional for many, continuing to exercise with sports teams over video calls, supporting siblings and parents, and finding ways to stay connected to peers and themselves while being physically separated. While the implementation of the CLP is always demanding, the Semester XVI cohort will have new challenges to navigate as our world post COVID-19 reveals itself. Amidst this context, the process of identifying passions will further inspire our students to serve. We are indeed creating leaders who will positively impact the world.
The images in this blog post come from a variety of past students’ CLP websites. You can view more completed Culminating Leadership Projects on the Alzar School website. Hopefully this provides a little glimpse of where this semester’s students are heading!
