Three years ago I wanted to QUIT! I wanted out of student activities! My frustration level had reached an unhealthy point, and I was tired of the endless march of tasks and trials.
Working in education is demanding, and sometimes those demands overwhelm us, but no matter how frustrated and tired I was, deep down I knew that quitting was not going to help anyone.
When I took a step back from my own frustration, I realized the only real solution was to find another way to do student activities that made more sense and truly developed leaders! The things I had been doing simply weren’t working. If I wanted to stay sane, I needed to innovate.
Three years ago today I designed a system that alleviated a lot of the pressure I’d been feeling up until that point. It was a simple concept that worked to develop leadership better than anything I’d tried before. As an added bonus, those leaders actually began to take on some of the responsibilities that had been causing me so much stress and frustration!
Suddenly, my school stopped feeling like a cage. I started to wake up with energy and excitement.
I want to share that method with you, but before I do I want to put forward two ideas to encourage you with today:
1) Don’t quit. Your school needs you. You will figure it out, but you might have to take a step back to find a way that works for you. Devote more time into developing GREAT leaders instead of GREAT events. At the end of the day its about student leaders, not student activities.
2) My Four Seasons program has grown from one post I made 3 years ago. I can’t even begin to explain the amazing ride I’ve had over the past three years within my program and across the country. Dream big. Start small. Be ridiculously faithful. Three years ago I never thought Four Seasons would be where it is today. It wasn’t perfect then and it’s not perfect now. But each day we make changes and the model improves. We keep learning and we keep growing. So keep pressing on! You can do it!
Without further adieu, here is the Four Seasons post itself: The Four Seasons Overview
Don’t hesitate to use this template. If you need help kicking it off, you can also contact any of the following groups to kick start your campaign in a big way:
or TEEN TRUTH
Any and all of these programs are a great choice to help you launch strong school culture that will develop incredibly leadership and empowered, involved students.
Thank you all for the support you’ve shown, and for allowing me to work with you and your programs. Have a fantastic day!
Stephen Amundson
Activities Director, TEEN TRUTH
