Upper School ISU Retreat Focuses on Leadership

On Thursday, October 16, members of the Upper School International Student Union (ISU) cabinet spent the morning in Le Centre Brown's Gallery for their annual leadership retreat. Now in its fourth year, the retreat is a time for the students to meet with WIS senior leadership (the Vision Team) and learn about their roles and responsibilities, with the goal that the students will learn the tools they need to lead thoughtfully. 

Upper School Assistant Principal and Student Life Coordinator Anne Leflot reflected, "It was really empowering for the students. They met with Upper School Principal Francesca Mulazzi, who discussed the IB Learner Profile traits with them. Head of School Suzanna Jemsby and Associate Head of School Natasha Bhalla talked about what it's like to be a leader, and to align everything we do with the School's Mission and Core Values. They also told their personal stories of their paths to leadership. 

Students also met with the Advancement Office to learn about fundraising and community-building, and with IDI Director Aldaine Wynter, who spoke about building community with IDI in mind. The presentations ended with ​a​ workshop from our CFO Ignacio Bravo, who taught the students about budgeting and how to best ​u​se the​ money they have raised to give back to the community.

The retreat wrapped up with a discussion of key takeaways from the senior leaders and how to take advantage of everyone's leadership profile so that we can really work as a ​​group and help each other. By the end of the day, we create​d strategic go​als for the year. 

This ​y​ear's retreat asked important questions about leadership. What do you do with your power? How do you use it? With all your responsibility, what are the action​ plans you're going to take to be responsible in an impactful and meaningful​ way?

I really appreciated the students' compelling reflections. Many of them came to realize that, oftentimes, leading means making ​unpopular decision​s based on vision and principles. Suzanna and Natasha also mentioned that leadership can sometimes feel heavy.

Students also realized that in ISU, just like in the Vision Team, there's a little bit for everyone. Students who are really interested in fin​ance are going to get involved in budgeting and fundraising. Students who are really interested in social interactions might be more focused on community-building and IDI. But ultimately, how do we work with each other?

For me, it's moving because we have our leaders giving the​ir precious time to our students.​It increase​s the sense of belonging and the sense of responsibility to the community."