36 | Summer 2018 L earning 2 Lead is an annual day-long leadership program hosted by Greensboro Day School, open to area middle school students. GDS upper school students along with a small group of teachers are responsible for developing and running the program. Middle school students from GDS, Canterbury School, Our Lady of Grace School, Noble Academy, New Garden Friends School, High Point Friends School and Northwest Guilford Middle School are invited to attend. The program teaches younger students how to develop their leadership skills while learning the importance of communication, strong values, and group dynamics. I attended this program both in seventh and eighth grades and it made a positive impact on my life. I learned how to develop leadership skills through this program and found it a rewarding experience and one that I will never forget. The day starts with ice-breaker activities to get to know other participants from your own school, and also meet and learn about other attendees. Students take part in small group discussions and team-building activities, ultimately developing ideas to take back and implement at their individual schools. The adults from each school observe the activities to see how the students react and respond, but let the students make their own decisions. Being a middle school student and going through Learning 2 Lead changed how I see group situations. Through my experience, I am able to better understand differing points of view and help reach decisions for the good of the group. This year I had the opportunity to join the Winter Term course for the students who plan and run the Learning 2 Lead conference. We started the class with learning how to be leaders because after all, we would be the ones who teaching the middle school students how to be leaders. I quickly grew close with the other students in the class. While we were in different grades and came into the class with different skills and knowledge, we learned to work together as a team. When it came time for the conference it was rewarding to see the younger students enjoying the activities and the realization that not long ago, I was once one of them as a L2L participant. Overall, the Learning 2 Lead conference was one of the best experiences of my middle school career. It changed how I prepare for my school assignments and projects and how I see the rest of the world. It was amazing and had a great impact on my life and everyone else’s lives that were involved. Learning 2 Lead is something that everyone should experience. I am fortunate to attend a school that offers programs like this to benefit students by developing their leadership skills. Learning Lead By Emma Hofbauer ’21 2