SHS hosts Alberta Student Leadership Conference

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Strathmore High School was host to the Alberta Student Leadership Conference, which took place May 9-11, in partnership with the Alberta Association of Students, Councils, and Advisors (AASCA).

The event is held annually at a different school each year. Cheryl Davidson, a teacher who spoke on behalf of Strathmore High School, explained they were able to host the event following a successful application to the AASCA.

“It consists of three days; it starts Friday after school, all day Saturday, and Sunday until noon. We have three keynote speakers, and then we have 14 breakout sessions; we have a service project, and we have a dance, and then just some other really fun activities,” she explained. “Kids come from all over Alberta; we have 30 different schools that are coming; there are 65 students from Strathmore High School who are helping to put it on.”

Strathmore High School students have been given leadership roles and have been given responsibilities corresponding with keeping groups of their peers organized. 

Davidson added this year’s event theme is “Yes I Can,” which aims to empower youth to recognize their own potential, embrace their strengths, pursue their goals, and come out of the event inspired. 

“We have these great workshops, these inspiring speakers; we are hoping that they will make some meaningful connections with kids from across Alberta, that they will be a little more resilient, that they will have more belief in themselves, that they will come away feeling like they have purpose,” she said. “We were supposed to host in 2020, then COVID-19 shut us down. This is the first time we have hosted. Last year, it was held in Airdrie.”

The Town of Strathmore has supported hosting the conference, having discounted the school for the use of the Civic Centre during the event. 

Similarly, Best Western provided complimentary rooms for the keynote speakers, Strathmore and Wood Creek Lions Clubs made monetary donations to pay for the speakers, and Domino’s Pizza offered the school discounted pizza to feed the students. 

“(Students) always leave these events so excited to just make change, to make things better in their own environments, whether that is in their school or in their community or in their homes, or in the world,” said Davidson. “They come back with all of these ideas of things that they can do and there is a real energy … it serves mostly for skill development, but it is also a great resume builder and character builder.”

This year’s speakers included Kimberly Lyle, hailing from Lethbridge, Tyler Smith, a former member of the Humboldt Broncos, and Brett Dixon, a leadership teacher from Calgary.