South Suburban Sixth-Graders Find Their Voice At First-Ever Leadership Summit

OAK LAWN, IL—Perhaps it was the way five girls hoisted a chair and moved it to a quieter part of the corridor at the Oak Lawn Hilton, where 150 sixth-graders were finding their voice at a never-before-done leadership summit.

“It’s astonishing how intelligent these students are,” said Supt. Joe Matisse, Ridgeland Dist. 122. “You’d be amazed what kids have to say if you stop and talk to them.”

The multi-district leadership summit threw together sixth-graders from districts 122, 123, 127, 127.5, 111, 143 and Universal School in Bridgeview. The objective was to create a student leadership network to help students find their voice in their school and communities.

“Our goal is to support the students in taking ownership of their educational experience and teach them how to support their peers in making positive change in their schools,” Matisse said.

Tom Burton, a retired school superintendent from Cincinnati, OH, facilitated the We Empower leadership summit. Burton’s company travels around the country conducting leadership training for educators, building principals, administrators and students.

The students spent the day participating in various table activities where they worked together on projects and changed tables where they worked with kids from other schools.

“When you think about what we did today, we gave kids an opportunity to amplify their voices,” Burton said. “How awesome is it that kids have the opportunity to learn and grow alongside people that don’t look like them? They were amazing today.”

Ahyan Khan, a sixth-grader from Simmons Middle School in Oak Lawn, said he learned that being a leader was getting people to trust and believe in you.

“It also means giving everyone a chance,” Ahyan said. “Sometimes people get lots of chances, and sometimes other people get left … let everyone explain their opinions.”

Asked how young people can be leaders in the community, Simmons Middle Schooler Ava Cunningham said kids could start by being supportive of neighbors.

“If someone lost a lot of money or a loved one, we could start a fundraiser or bring flowers,” Ava told Patch. “We could make posters to hang outside telling people to pick up their trash.”

Matisse said he was impressed at the poise and confidence kids showed meshing with students from other schools. He told Patch that students frequently email him with ideas for clubs or constructive criticism.

“Every student voice is important; you’re only in junior high once,” Matisse said. “This is a community school. To have students get an authentic leadership experience, it’s so meaningful for them to have an idea and see the district carry it out, or to talk to a reporter.”

As we spoke to students in the hallway of the Oak Lawn Hilton, so many thanked Patch for listening to them. Here are some more lessons in leadership from the sixth-graders:

“Being a leader means you’re a role model and important for those around you who look up to you … you have to show you mean something good.” ~ Kailee Lopez, Simmons Middle School

“When you see other students, they might be shy. I want to come up to them calmly and ask if they’d like to join us.” ~ Marian Isbaten, Simmons

“The roles of the leader, like being respectful of others and learning about everyone’s problems and trying to fix them.” ~ Jood Raja, Simmons

“I would help people if they needed help getting money by starting a fundraiser, like if their house was destroyed.” ~ Seleen Hamoud, Simmons

“I would like to show other people that as Muslims, we can be very kind and be great leaders. Even in our history, there was a prophet Muhammad and he was the greatest leader in the Muslim empire.”~ Lian Alhow, Universal School