New leadership program will give students more

responsibility
theheraldonthehill.com/on-the-hill/2016/05/04/new-leadership-program-will-give-students-more-
responsibility/

Katy Beth Boyers, Editor

May 4, 2016

Coming next year, JPII will not be the same.

With all the new schedule changes and
Innov8 classes, what else does Mr. Deely plan
on changing? Recently, Ms. Kat Morris, the
Caritas director, announced during assembly
a new leadership program that will replace
the current system.

This new leadership program will have eight

different leadership groups: Communications, Virtue, Faith, Unity, Ambassadors, Caritas,
Athletics, and 9.

Lead Faith is built in with the leadership class and will plan and be in charge of the weekly
school liturgies, special services, and class retreats.

Lead Unity will be the group that will plan monthly assemblies, house games, school dances,
and social events.

Lead Athletics will be in charge of the pep rallies, games, and tailgating activities. Athletics
will help the Blue Man Group get the students excited for sports like basketball and football.
This group will also plan the pre-game and halftime entertainment.

Lead Ambassadors are what will be replacing Societas. This group will be in charge of
leading the school tours and visit days, and the students will represent JPII outside of
school, as well. This group will work with the Admissions and Advancement Offices.

Lead Communications will include Herald on the Hill. We will be telling the stories of JPII with
the Communications Office. We will help organize the weekly announcements and the social
media presence. Lead Communications will get the word out about our school through
social media, the school website, and the Herald!

1/2
Lead Virtue will be the student advisory group for policies like dress code, wellness, and
more. The group will help update these policies to fit a student’s needs, organize what food
should be served at lunch, and work together with the Veritas Council.

Lead 9 is the freshman advisory committee. The seniors will help the new students become
familiar with the school and will assist them in transitioning to high school. Lead 9 is going to
help educate freshmen on what it means to be a JPII student.

Lead Caritas will be in charge of the service organization. This group will be upgrading the
Caritas program by giving the students responsibility to coordinate with other organizations
and become the site supervisor for JPII. Lead Caritas will be upgraded to help Ms. Morris
with service opportunities, including the Senior Service Project and more.

According to Ms. Morris, this new leadership structure will benefit the school and student
body by giving the students more responsibility and will “build up the school culture.”

“The reason we have the whole structure and how it will benefit the school is to give you,
the students, the ownership of these things and the responsibility that comes along with it,”
Ms. Morris said. “We are trusting you a lot to do these things, but giving you that ability to
say what you want to do and letting you do that, and then maybe not doing some of the
things that we have traditionally done, if that is something you are not willing to put effort
into.”

Ms. Morris noted that Lead was created because they, the faculty in charge of Lead, want to
keep the current leadership system but open it up to more students. Students are not
required to sign up or be a part of these leadership groups, but they are more than welcome
to. If you are a student who is worried about not getting service hours from being a part of
the committees, don’t worry – these are being worked out, and you should be able to get
hours for being a part of a committee.

Students can participate in two leadership committees on some conditions. One condition is
if you are in a class or group that is tethered to that leadership group, then you can join
another group if you want to. For example, if you are in the online media class, which is in
Lead Communications, yet you want to be a part of Lead Ambassadors, you can do that.

Remember also that details are still being worked out, and some of these rules could
change. The teachers in charge of the Lead Program want to see how it works the first year.
Ms. Morris mentioned that the whole Leadership program is just getting a better framework
with more opportunities for students to be leaders.

2/2