On Wednesday, November 25th, the Grade 9 Day took place during lunch and after school. Some leadership students prepared a warm welcome for all the new students currently in Grade 9. The purpose of all the activities organized was to help the Grade 9 students get to know each other and the school better.

First of all, Grade 9 Day was a big event that required a lot of preparation and organization. We had to assign specific tasks for the event preparation: marketing, trivia, raffle, and Q&A. I personally chose marketing again because I am new to the school and didn’t want to take on a task that required a lot of prior school knowledge. Additionally, I enjoy using my creative skills to design posters, and I think the final result was quite good (poster attached below). I also helped with recording the Instagram video post, including making smooth transitions and contributing ideas on how the video should be. In terms of my participation during the event, marketing students weren’t required to attend, but the Grade 9’s day leaders asked us to come and take pictures. I went to the library at lunch because I had an appointment after school and wouldn’t be able to attend then. Although I was willing to take pictures, they needed a scorekeeper for one of the Grade 9 groups, so I ended up taking on that role instead. This is a summary of my participation in both the preparation and the event itself.

Secondly, utilizing different leadership styles to complete tasks was the main competency I focused on, as I wanted to challenge myself to contribute more beyond just creating the poster that had been assigned to me. While the poster was important, I also wanted to share my ideas with the marketing group. In my opinion, I participated a lot in this process—more than I did in the previous event—despite feeling a bit nervous to speak up since I didn’t know anyone at first.
I’d like to explain how this competency was useful in helping me achieve my course goals:

• First of all, using different leadership styles involves being able to communicate effectively and make yourself understood. One of my course goals was to improve my speaking and communication skills, as I’m an exchange student from Spain and came here to study English. I think I applied various forms of communication and was able to share my ideas clearly. Additionally, I helped plan and record part of the Instagram video.
• Secondly, I wanted to become more open to learning and using more leadership skills. In the future, I hope to be able to choose the most effective leadership style for specific situations, as I will have a wider range of options.

Not less important, I’d like to discuss how I applied this competency before and during the event. Before the event, I created part of the marketing materials, which required management, planning, and creativity. First, I reached out to other marketing members to share and discuss ideas for the posters. Then, I used those style ideas to create a visual poster that would appeal to 13/14-year-old students. These two steps involved applying communication and idea-sharing, as well as my own critical thinking to design an attractive poster that would encourage Grade 9 students to participate. During the event, marketing students didn’t have a specific role, but an unexpected task came up, and I had to carry it out as best as I could. This was another challenge I hadn’t anticipated, but it gave me an opportunity to learn and apply a different leadership style in an unexpected situation.
Here are some pieces of evidence of my participation (applying the competency):

1. Helping with the Instagram post: Although I was initially assigned another task, I contributed ideas and helped with the recording of the Instagram video. I shared my thoughts and tried to incorporate elements that would attract more Grade 9 students to participate in the event. Marketing, in this case, was about making things more understandable and creative, since the goal was to encourage students to take part in an activity. The content needed to be engaging and compelling.
2. Switching roles for an unexpected task: During the event, I wasn’t given a specific role, but I was asked to help scorekeep and supervise one of the Grade 9 groups. As a leadership student, I was eager to help, but I soon realized I wasn’t fully prepared for this task. I calmed down and asked one of my marketing peers (Heela), who had been assigned to supervise a different Grade 9 group, to assist me. We both weren’t sure how to handle the situation since it wasn’t part of our original responsibilities, but we helped each other and managed the task well. I think this was an important example of applying a leadership style that focused on teamwork and supporting each other in unexpected situations.
3. A very important point for me: I think I managed this well. As a marketing student, I wasn’t expected to attend the event unless it was absolutely necessary. However, I wanted to contribute during the event, so I made sure to attend. Initially, I planned to attend after school (since I had worked on the poster for the activity), but I had an important dance meeting at lunch. Just before lunch, I received a notification about an appointment after school, so I decided to skip the dance meeting and attend the event instead, since I wouldn’t be able to come after school. The point is, I didn’t have to attend either part of the event, but I felt they might need help, so I prioritized the Grade 9 Day. I emailed one of the Grade 9 Day leaders (Alexia) to inform her that I wouldn’t be able to attend after school as I had originally planned, but I would attend the lunch part of the event instead. For me, this was another example of how I applied the competency: prioritizing tasks and responsibilities.

Thanks for reading! I really hope the Grade 9 students had a great time and that they will start this new chapter of their school life as well as we did!💫

These pictures attached show my work and participation before and during the event:

• The poster I made (just one):

• Group photo (at lunch – Trivia):

*I wasn’t wearing my leadership t-shirt because I didn’t expect to come at lunch.