OLDS — Leadership was the name of the game for two days at École Olds High School.
About 150 students from across the county gathered at the TransCanada Theatre for the Horizons leadership conference on Thursday, presented by the Canadian Student Leadership Association (CSLA).
Dave Conlon of the CSLA, a retired educator from Guelph, Ont. also met Thursday with teachers to give them some ideas.
Then about 30 students met with local leaders in the Commons area of the School Friday morning for the Change Café, where the pros and cons of the community were discussed and ideas to solve problems were suggested.
Conlon said Thursday’s conference marked the first time the regional workshop has been held as an in-person event.
“In the past few years we’ve been running them virtually,” he said.
Speakers at the Horizon conference included Alvin Law a well-known speaker who has learned to live with no arms, having been a Thalidomide baby; and Jeff Martin, who spoke about the experience of being Black in a largely white society, diversity and the dangers of stereotyping people.
“Our intention is to give the kids inspiration, motivation and some information about how to make positive change in their schools or their communities,” Conlon said.
"We hope that by bringing in some speakers, networking them with each other from different schools and then giving them some activities, that they are motivated to go back to their own schools, their own communities and do positive things.”
Grade 12 student Madison Byrt attended both events.
Byrt said one idea raised in the café that she liked was creating a buddy system involving at least one student with each staff member.
She said that would be one way for staff to understand students better.
Scott from the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance talked about the need for more understanding and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community.
One idea advanced was to create a Pride sidewalk or crosswalk in Olds. Another was stage a prom that would primarily be for LGBTQ+ students but that would also be open to all students.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine came up.
It was suggested that a Perogies For Peace fundraiser could be set up.
Byrt agreed that would have to be done quickly, as the invasion may soon be complete.
“I’m assuming we’ll get right on that on Monday,” she said.
Byrt was impressed by the café.
“I really enjoyed it,” she said. “To be honest, I was a little bit skeptical going into it, as I really wasn’t sure what to expect from it and I was definitely tired from the day before.
“But I still went and I definitely really did enjoy it. I learned a whole bunch of activities and I got to hear about my peers, like and what they think could be changed and their perspective on things.
“I think overall we kind of would like to see the same things. And then also I heard some cool ideas that I never would have thought of myself.”
There was a concern that mental health issues are not well understood or appreciated and trivialized in some cases.
It was suggested that perhaps a mental health professional could speak to teachers and students to educate them and create more understanding.
Byrt said Martin gave several talks over a couple of days. One thing he talked about on Thursday stood out.
"He had two pictures on his screen," she said. "The one on the left was like this stereotypical criminal with tattoos, all dressed in black with baggy jeans. On the right side is this normal teenager.
“So when you look at it at first you think ‘oh yeah, the guy on the left is the criminal because he kind of like has that physical appearance, where the guy on the left is actually the criminal. It was very good."
Asa Korver also attended. In fact, both were MCs during the Horizons conference.
“I really enjoyed (Friday’s) event,” Korver wrote in an email. “It was a great opportunity to connect with community members and other students.
She noted that one idea that came up was to find a way for youth to connect with various organizations in Olds, like the Kiwanis Club.
Korver said it was great to finally meet in person during Thursday’s Horizons event.
“It reminded me how much I’ve missed talking to people from other schools over the past two years,” she wrote.
Kiwanis Club of Olds past-president Murray Elliott was among the adult leaders in attendance.
Adults were told that it’s pretty intimidating for a high school student to attend one of their meetings because most club members are much older than they are, he said.
“And I said, ‘we are old,” Elliott said.
Elliott also liked an idea generated during the café for the high school to invite newcomers in to learn more about the community.
“I think that’s absolutely brilliant,” he said. “I said to go on in perpetuity, it would have to have a solid foundation. When you graduate, there’s a new bunch of kids to take over. It was good. It was really good; better than I would have thought."
Elliott said he was very impressed with how mature the students were.
