Students set bar on service learning

by Aerial Towles ’19  
                        
Students attended a recent conference on volunteerism and presented a workshop.
A group of 16 USN High School students involved in leadership and service learning gathered this week to attend the annual Tennessee Conference on Service Learning and Volunteerism. This event brings both adults and youth from around Tennessee to collaborate and learn from each other's leadership roles and volunteer experiences. 

On Sunday, March 11, they kicked off the Youth Track portion of the conference with an exciting workshop called “Turning Your Passion into Action.” In their leadership and service class, students organized and planned this workshop to empower other leaders with what steps to take to carry out their passions.

Ethan Harville, a participant from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said, “I’ve attended so many workshops and conferences, and this is, hands down, the best one I’ve ever attended.”

Students effectively engaged their audience by using personal experience surrounding leadership and service while participants both identified their passions and created plans for connecting with others. 

On Monday, March 12 students attended workshops led by accomplished leaders around our volunteer state. In various workshops, students learned tools and skills to use in their own roles at USN and in their communities. One workshop, called "So you think you can lead?" by BRIDGES USA, focused on how to improve as a leader while working in a diverse group setting. 

In attending the BRIDGES workshop, Bella Barocas ’19 explained, “Through a series of interactive activities, we applied our individual leadership qualities to understand the part we play in working towards a common goal within a group. Initially I thought that my leadership style was solely an initiator; however, I quickly learned that in certain situations, it is more productive to step down."

After a long day of workshops and connecting with other student leaders, USN participants reported that their experiences were empowering, inspiring, interesting, informative, and interactive. Students hope to take what they learned and apply it to their various engagements in the community. 

The following students attended the conference:
Anabella Barocas '19
Victoria Christianson Galina '20
Arjun Dasari '19
Haley Harris '19*
Ariel Hong '20
Elijah Hong '18*
Jaran Huggins '18*
Clayton Jelsma '19
Shriya Karam '19*
Hannah Laibinis '19*
Arushi Mehta '20
Neha Mehta '20
Cyntasia Palmer '19*
Amara Payne '19
Katelyn Starks '19*
Aerial Towles '19*
 
*Students presenting the opening workshop "Turning Passion into Action."
Back

More USN News

List of 3 news stories.

Archive

Contact

Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212

Phone:  615-321-8000
Fax:       615-321-0889 
Email:    info@usn.org

River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218

Resources

USN Mission: 
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.