High school is a time for teenagers to learn, both from within textbooks and by relations with other people. Many of them are still trying to figure out their sense of self. They may feel pressure to fit into peer groups and also to get good grades to pursue post-secondary education. Community leaders can positively impact high school students, both directly and indirectly.
Community leaders include politicians, businesses, and volunteer organizers. These leaders play a prominent social or political role in the community.
1. Motivate High School Students
A community leader can motivate someone attending high school. If the two people have direct communication, the leader may become a mentor to the student. The student sees the power of the individual within the leader’s actions and the effect of actions on the betterment of the community. This encourages feelings of hope within the student, who may then form goals that relate to the mentor’s activities.
2. Work Ethic
Whether a one-on-one mentoring relationship or a high school student is watching a community leader from afar, the leader’s actions can influence the student. The student, as a teenager, is likely dealing with identity issues and learning the processes of the world. By observing the leader in action, the student studies ways to behave in work situations.
Work ethic is learnable from community leaders. Values learned that could be applied to the workplace includes things like punctuality and giving your all to the task at hand.
The community leader epitomizes these values and is an admired person in the community. The high school student may model his or her behavior according to the leader’s strengths.
3. New Interests
Community leaders are also influential as they may introduce high school pupils to new areas of interest. Leaders are prominent people in the community, so they may have a high likelihood of getting students’ attention.
When leaders speak at conferences, for example, the presentations may be before groups of students or aired on media such as televisions and radios. These youth see or hear the leaders, and the subject matter of the talk may be new to them, such as ideas for going green in business.
Imagine a political leader who gives a presentation to a high school class. The young audience learns about elections and public speaking. One who wants to learn more about these topics might then join the school’s debate club to practice speeches like those given by politicians. In this example, the community leader has positively influenced the student to learn more about the political arena.
4. The Path Ahead
High school students can also learn from community leaders how to get to where the leader has risen career-wise or socially. A high school scholar who wants to reach a similar point can conduct an informational interview with the leader to ask them questions about the related field.
The student learns what education is necessary to get involved in the area of interest. Questions to ask include what attributes are important in a leader of his or her position, and what steps are recommended to take the student to a similar realm.
Positively Impact High School Students
Community leaders can positively impact high school students in many ways. They can both motivate and teach students about particular areas of communities or about work ethic in general. A high school student looking for a mentor would be wise to choose a community leader in an area of interest.
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