B u l l e t i n - Noble and Greenough School

theatre, but also how to be a role model
to younger students. After I began
an independent study in scenic design
last year, I took on this role as a leader
with greater confidence as I became a
part of the upper echelons of the theatre
department.
“As oft-discussed as the mission
statement is, I find that the notion of
‘leadership for the public good’ is a
beautiful concept around which Nobles
centers its education. Watching my
classmates develop over the years, I’ve
seen students transform themselves
from timid middle schoolers into confident
young adults who are ready to
lead the people around them.”
laureN DilloN, class iii
Team sports provide opportunities for
leadership. Nobles structures its program
in a way that promotes camaraderie,
respect, communication and
sportsmanship among all players, not
He says, “this is the most effective way to engage students and to
motivate them to uncover the complex set of historical, political,
international and psychological issues that allow the conditions of
genocide to be established and the acts of genocide to occur.”
simulations, decision-making assignments, position papers, interviews,
films, speakers, historical studies, scholarly articles and
student-selected projects force students to confront and advocate
about issues from different perspectives,” snyder says. “students
must learn to think like leaders who have to make difficult choices.”
Leaders will face pressures that often confound direct, l
ogical solutions. Nobles offers students projects that simulate the
just captains or upperclassmen. These
life skills translate on and off the court.
“Being on a sports team at Nobles
has taught me that it doesn’t matter
how old or experienced you are, ” says
Lauren Dillon. “Being a leader means
putting your teammates before yourself,
which includes working as hard as you
can for them all the time, so that your
team can succeed. I see myself leading
by example during practice and games
by pushing my teammates as hard as I
can in order to help develop their skills
as players and to develop mine as well.
It’s giving the same amount of full
effort, whether it be a practice, a regular
season game or a playoff game.”
aDriaNa ureña, class i
When Adriana Ureña was a Class III
student, a friend asked her to attend
the Student Diversity Leadership
Conference (SDLC) with a group
from Nobles. The conference brings
together multiracial, multicultural
high school students from across the
country to discuss issues of diversity
and student leadership. She had no
idea what an impact it would make
on her life.
“It turned out to be one of the best
things I’ve done. Not only did I learn a
lot about diversity through conversations
with other students, I learned
how to bring those conversations back
to Nobles and expand on those topics
with other students. It’s one thing to
have opinions, but it’s another thing to
convey them to a community and create
dialogue. This year, I’m one of the
co-leaders of Sister 2 Sister, a group for
young women of color. I use what I’ve
learned about leadership to help
support others in the group—especially
younger students—in ways that were
meaningful to me when I needed
guidance most.”
—JULIe GUPTILL
challenges of good leadership and decision making within
complex environments.
the pedagogy embedded in these exercises helps students
understand themselves better and develop their principles in
age-appropriate environments as they become knowledgeable
about course content.
other Nobles courses share modes of inquiry like the one
in snyder’s course—curriculum that achieves similar goals is
in development in statistics, economics, discrete math, english
and other classes.
—saNdra MacQUiNN, director of coMMUNity service
the Nobles bulletiN spring 2012 31