The Youth Leadership classes have produced several special projects over the past two years. Below are examples of how the students collectively put their skills into action.

Vestavia Voice Article on the Rebel Edge Project

The very first week of school in August of 2017, Dr. Burgess visited the Youth Leadership II class to share his thoughts on the Rebel Edge. He had written the following paragraph that he had also shared with the faculty just days before.

After he shared it with the class, a discussion began about the concept of the Rebel Edge. The students knew that the term had been around for many years but had never really been defined or used to the extent that it could be. Through their discussions, they decided to launch a full project called the Rebel Edge Project.

The first thing they wanted to accomplish was to take what Dr. Burgess had written and transform it into something shorter and more usable. They spent many days word-smithing and getting input from teachers and others. The final product was a short but meaningful pledge they called the Rebel Edge Pledge. They produced a formal presentation which they gave to Dr. Burgess and other assistant principals that included a multi-layer plan to introduce the concept to the school. Once they received permission to move ahead, they pursued several different avenues to fund their ideas. Through local sponsors, anonymous donors, and a grant from the VHHS PTO, the class was able to produce all the pieces of the project

Below is a list of all aspects of the project:

• Produced Rebel Edge t-shirts which were purchased by an anonymous donor and given to every single student and staff member of VHHS. T- shirts were distributed the week of the Vestavia-Hoover game and all students were asked to wear their shirts.
• Through a local sponsor, posters were designed and printed to be displayed in each room of the school.
• The class bought materials and made large EDGE letters out of plywood to be displayed at various school events.
• Through a grant from the PTO, a Pledge Wall was made and hung in main hall of the school for everyone to sign, reflecting unity and support of the Rebel Edge concept.
• The 2018 senior class gift was an original sculpture made by a VHHS alum and famous sculptor, Craiger Browne. The title of the piece is "Cutting the Stone."

YLVH Winners of Blackboard Catalyst Award

Vestavia Voice Article about Student Life App

“A community’s well-being simply has to do with the quality of the relationships, the cohesion that exists among its citizens.” ~Peter Block, author of Community: The Structure of Belonging

The quote above opened the Possible Project, written and presented by the YLVH Leadership class at VHHS. On January 20^th, two months of research, discussions, brainstorming, and writing culminated with a formal presentation held in the Media Center in front of a very distinguished audience. In attendance were the city manager, the school system’s superintendent, assistant superintendent, and Board of Education president and vice president, the high school principal along with all four assistant principals, the Chamber’s executive director, three representatives from Leadership Vestavia Hills, and a several other teachers and YLVH community leaders.

The guests had been invited to see the results of a project that sprang from a class discussion in early November about unity and school spirit. The result incorporated several concepts the class had studied during the semester including public speaking, team work, and problem- solving. The first step as a class was to agree upon the guiding questions and belief statements what would drive the rest of the project. Below are those important foundational pieces:

GUIDING QUESTIONS

What history/traditions do we want to maintain/honor? What is the future we want to create?

What is the end we have in mind before we begin?

How can we create a win-win situation?

How can we, as student leaders, affect POSITIVE CHANGE?

BELIEF STATEMENTS

We believe that school spirit springs from a sense of unity and belonging.

We believe that students hold the power to change the school climate.

We believe that positive change happens through positive actions.

We believe that every student has equal value and worth.

Next, students were divided into three working groups: one focusing on the history of VHHS, one concentrating on the present, and one exploring the future for students. Each group determined their own methods of research and conducted that work over the next several weeks. The history group explored where we have been as a school system and a high school. They collected data on demographics from the Board of Education for an objective perspective and surveyed the many VHHS teachers who are also alumni concerning their favorite traditions from the past for a more subjective view.

The group that focused on the present state of the school conducted a survey of more than 500 YLVH sophomores, juniors and seniors using Survey Monkey via Remind 101. The survey included one quantitative question as well as three open-ended ones; over 270 students responded to the survey. After collectively defining what “tradition” means to them, they also conducted an inventory which resulted in a list of more than 70 current VHHS traditions, actions that students repeatedly do year after year that reflect or create pride in being a VHHS student.

Finally, the group that considered the future was driven by the concept that in order to move the community forward, they needed to focus not on the problem but on the possible, thus the title of the presentation. After an open discussion with the class, the group chose to focus on new activities that would make the school feel more welcoming to all students, encourage student engagement, and create a sense of unity from which school spirit would naturally grow. The results included 15 ideas, mostly new ones but some revamped old or updated current activities. They created a chart that included each idea, who would be impacted, what would be the estimated cost in dollars and manpower, and who would be responsible for seeing the idea to fruition. The ideas were roughly grouped into three categories: communication, class unity, and events.

The class then is learned the importance of follow-through. They held scheduled meetings with the principal, the superintendent, the system technology coordinator and the system communications director about what the next steps should be and how to be a part of the process moving forward. They also met via tele-conference with representatives from Blackboard, the company that ultimately produced the app. This project created a great sense of pride among the students and a better understanding of the concepts they had studied as they actually experienced leadership in action.

The result is the current Student Life App available for free to all students.

Submitted by Kym Prewitt, YLVH Leadership Class Teacher