The Fight to Lead

Many students tend to believe there are no opportunities for students to be leaders because the staff makes all the choices. However, The Columbus School has multiple activities that students can lead and participate in. All of these are being planned throughout the year but have a work-heavy period of time. Five of the clubs that have a great number of participants are COSMUN, NHS, GIN, Robotics, and Girl Up. All of these work on topics regarding surrounding global issues. Leadership in multiple TCS clubs varies according to their objectives and structure. Furthermore, some adapt their leadership based on their previous experiences. 

COSMUN, NHS, and Girl Up have a hierarchical structure. The first two have been a part of the school for over five years while the third recently started. The National Honor Society recognizes four pillars: leadership, character, academics, and service. The Columbus School’s NHS is run by the president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and communicator. Leadership is promoted for students who apply but few can have a position on the board, contradicting the grand leadership ideology stated in its core values. The hierarchical structure is decided by specific chapters; therefore, it has never been modified. Similar to the previous structure, COSMUN “is more hierarchical, showing a clear structure between all the levels of students,” Juan Manuel Rodriguez, TCS senior, said. In this three day event, the school’s MUN has one secretary-general, two sub secretary generals, presidents, and vice presidents running the committees. Every committee has a logistics crew, press members, delegates, and floor secretaries. Although a hierarchical structure is not modern, the system has functioned and gives people the opportunity to sign up to have the role to which they aspire. However, not everyone gets chosen in the spot they dreamed of because presidents and vice presidents must take a test and an interview to be considered. On the other hand, Girl Up has been a part of the school for only three years, promoting gender equality. As stated in the Girl Up international website, “Girl Up’s model to create leaders is rooted in a transformative experience that builds girls’ confidence and is focused on action.” By empowering young members, it’s goal is to educate the community and promote equality. There is currently a president (chosen by the team members) and a vice president that helps the president structure the team. By giving students the chance to vote, leadership can be biased on personal matters more than skill. Nevertheless, the club has hosted successful summits with influential guest speakers that interest students. Hierarchical leadership characterizes groups which have shown potential and given students the opportunity to make choices. 

Global Issues Network (GIN) and robotics don’t have a hierarchical structure. The GIN program has a curriculum based on solving the 20 global issues and 20 years to solve them and has been a part of the school for over five years. “GIN originally had no leadership structure,” Rodriguez said. “But teachers felt the need to choose a group of student leaders who would be voted, later on, by the rest of the team.” The leadership team is made by a group of student members who help organize the team. Because GIN’s goal is to be transgenerational, teams are able to adapt to change. The current structure has only been implemented for three years; therefore, it’s hard to measure success. Furthermore, the robotics team (Lightning Blue Lizards) which has only been a part of the school for two years has three sub-teams: mechanics, programming, and marketing. These teams work to build a robot that participates in the FIRST Robotics competition, which happens yearly around the world. Applying for the drive team, a very important component during the competition, gives students the opportunity to acquire leadership positions. As said by Dean Kamen – a creator of FIRST- , “Innovation needs to be nurtured throughout an organization. Management is doing things right, whereas leadership is doing the right things.” The competition promotes leadership through the application to join the drive team, but some members are not recognized as much. Student-led groups can have a group-shared leadership and be successful. 

After understanding how different clubs work and how they are managed, one can say some structures are better than others. The crucial matter is not which is better but understanding that the topics that each group addresses provide the need to have a group of leaders or a strict hierarchy. Additionally, some clubs have had functional structures for years while others are still discovering what works best. A leader is defined by the capacity to guide a group towards success by having its best interest in mind. So whether the leaders in these clubs are given a title or not, the club’s organization is what should be considered.