A group of sixth graders is making an impact at Earl Hanson.

 

They're students helping students.

 

School counselor Ms. Mcgreevey came up with the idea to create Student Ambassadors at Earl Hanson. 

 

Interested sixth-graders had to fill out an application and go through a short interview. 

 

"I wanted to create another opportunity for student leadership in our building. Looking at school-wide data from a needs assessment, there was a need for more students to respect other students, and leadership roles and students wanted to feel invested and connected to Earl Hanson. With this information, I decided to create this leadership group to target some of the needs reflected in our student needs assessment," said Ms. Mcgreevey. 

 

The two main duties of the Student Ambassadors include: Welcoming new students to the school and giving them a tour. The other process is to be trained as a peer mentor. One of the goals of the Ambassadors is to help students. Students will be trained on how to address student conflict and how to help students resolve the conflict in an appropriate manner. 

 

"I hope the student ambassadors recognize this as an opportunity to exhibit their leadership skills and encourage them to get involved and be a part of a positive change inside our school building and in the community. I want students to know and experience the power of change and that working together to better the environment of Earl Hanson School is possible," said Ms. Mcgreevey

 

The group meets once a month or more and offers a variety of support to students and staff throughout the year.

 

"I wanted to help people and make them feel special," said Student Ambassador Brandi Lee. 

 

Some of the projects Student Ambassadors have done include donating socks to a homeless shelter around the holidays, making Valentine's for Veterans, and welcoming new students to the building just a few to name. 

 

In the future, they're planning on having the Student Ambassadors involved at family nights and join Ms. Mcgreevey in facilitating some lessons about respect, social skills, managing emotions, etc. Ms. Mcgreevey also wants them to be present in the building so if any student needs something, they know a student ambassador can and is willing to help however they can. 

 

She added, "When students feel invested and connected to their school it naturally boosts their self-esteem, contributes to higher academic success, and can contribute to increasing our attendance rates."

 

Ms. Mcgreevey hopes this drive for change is contagious and spreads to the rest of the student body.

 

"I hope that students who are not ambassadors look up to this group of sixth-graders and one day when they are in sixth grade they want to strive to be an ambassador at Earl Hanson. I want all students to know they are capable and deserving of being a leader in any way to help make a change. "