Middle School Students Participate in Leadership Conference

Three dimensions. One day.

The first Leadership in 3D conference offered Seven Hills Middle School student leaders the opportunity to better understand their strengths, how to lead with others, and tools they can use to shape their community. 

Racheal Quinn, director of diversity, equity & inclusion, said she created the experience because students are best prepared to lead when teachers and administrators deeply invest in their foundation. 

“At the individual level, students need time and space to discover their strengths, passions, and unique ways of leading. At the interpersonal level, they need opportunities to understand experiences beyond their own, work across lines of difference, and practice leading with empathy and compassion. At the institutional level, they need to recognize that their ideas and choices will shape the culture of their school and leave a lasting impact on their community,” Quinn said. 

The conference offered students the chance to dive deeply into three dimensions of leadership: Discover, Design, and Do.

Staff from Youth At The Center, a Cincinnati organization that teaches children and young adults how to be seen, heard, and valued, helped lead the Discover and Design sessions. 

Dimension One: DISCOVER

During the Discover session, students reflected on their priorities through the lens of their hearts, minds, and hands; explored their strengths and values; and named an area where they hope to grow.

Students discussed what the similarities and differences were between their skills and how they could be used collaboratively to achieve mutual goals and improve the community.

Dimension Two: DESIGN

During the Design session, seventh and eighth graders rotated between two main activities: the Zombie Apocalypse Prep challenge and the Bull Ring challenge. 

Seventh grader Ken’Zee Smith explained the Zombie Apocalypse Prep challenge was an activity where groups had to come up with plans to survive the apocalypse and use multiple ideas to find a way to survive.

“My favorite part of the conference was the way we got to talk to people who aren’t familiar to us or weren’t in the same grade as us. The things that I learned as a leader were to always communicate and consider what others think. I am planning to make other people heard and seen, while making sure that their unique experiences, voices, and thoughts are shared and valued,” Smith, a Changemakers member, said.

In the Bull Ring activity, Youth At The Center staff tasked teams of 12 to use strings attached to a central tube to guide a ball across the Schiff parking lot without dropping it. If the ball dropped, the group had to restart. 

“My favorite part of the conference was the Bull Ring activity. It was very engaging and helped me understand the traits of my teammates and my own teamwork capabilities. I grew as a leader by understanding myself and my abilities that help me in a group. I am planning to use my new qualities to lead and utilize other people’s qualities when working as a leader,” Seventh grader Eehaan Ashok, a student council and Changemakers member, said.

Dimension Three: DO

During the Do session, student leaders worked collaboratively in the 3D Launch Lab on challenges connected to their clubs, from welcoming prospective students to strengthening the Culture Fair, Toy, Book & Game Drive, or Arts Alive. They brainstormed together, considered whose voices might be missing, developed plans, and shared feedback across groups.

According to Quinn, learning as a group and providing multiple opportunities to collaborate were the building blocks she, Head of Middle School James Jessup, and the DEI team used when designing the event.

“Rather than preparing each group in isolation, we wanted students from across the Middle School to engage in the same learning, wrestle with the same questions, and consider how they might design with their peers; not simply for them. Ultimately, I hope students left with a stronger sense of self and one another, greater skills and confidence in their ability to lead, and an understanding that this school belongs to them, too,” Quinn said. 

Empowering students with the knowledge that they have the skills and agency to create the community they want to experience and find joy doing it together was one of Quinn’s goals for the conference. For eighth grader Lauralyn Tate, the goal was achieved.

“My favorite part of the conference was the hands-on component and how the adults taught us, then stepped back and let us figure out how we can lead. I learned that I am good at bringing a positive attitude and stepping back and letting others take chances. I am planning on taking more action and being assertive while also collaborating with others in my position [as president of the Jr. Thespians Society],” Tate said.

Eighth grader and student ambassador Lucas Hanlon said the event taught him how to be a good leader.

“I learned many things from the leadership conference that I can use. The conference taught me how to take a role that fits you and I chose to be an ambassador, because I love meeting new people and learning about other places. It showed me how to play to everyone’s strengths and let others contribute their strengths when it is one of your weaknesses,” Hanlon said. 

Through its collaborative learning environment, Leadership in 3D exemplified the Seven Hills mission of engaging hearts and minds, guiding students to cultivate their unique capabilities and preparing each for a meaningful role in a rapidly changing world.