NCGLS at Stuart

Leaders must:

• Love (Values)
• Think (Intellect)
• Act (Agency)
• Share (Collaborate)
• Plan (Vision)

NCGLS Leadership Enduring Understandings:

• God calls us to be leaders
• All girls have the potential to be leaders
• There are many types of leaders
• Leadership skills can be taught, learned, and practiced
• Leaders lead in small and big ways, and in small and big communities
• Leaders must value diversity and work toward inclusion and equity for all
• Leaders work to improve circumstances for those around them

NCGLS Leadership Essential Questions:

1. What does it mean to be a leader?
2. What is my leadership style? How does it include or exclude others?
3. How does my personal identity shape the way I lead?
4. What are the skills and responsibilities of a leader?
5. How do I meet the standards of and embody the traits of a NCGLS Leader?
6. How is being a female leader different from being a male leader?
7. How do we recognize, engage with, and learn from good leaders?

YEAR 1:

• Values- Understanding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Intellect -  The Science of Stress and Coping
• Agency - Time is on Our Side (time management)
• Collaboration - Group Work for Leaders (understanding group dynamics)
• Vision - SMART Goal Setting
• Learning from Leaders - A Case Study in Women’s Leadership

YEAR 2:

• Values- What is Service Learning?
• Intellect - Understanding My Learning Style
• Agency - Grading Myself - How to self -evaluate
• Collaboration - Reading Body Language 
• Vision - Public Speaking 101
• Learning from Leaders - A Case Study in Women’s Leadership

YEAR 3:

• Values- Revisiting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Intellect - What is digital literacy leadership?
• Agency - Leaders ask good questions!
• Collaboration - How to be an Active Listener
• Vision - Visioning: Let’s make a vision board!
• Learning from Leaders -  A Case Study in Women’s Leadership

YEAR 4:

• Values- Social Justice: Be a Warrior!
• Intellect - Digital Etiquette
• Agency - Money Talks: Intro to financial literacy
• Collaboration - Conflict: You CAN handle it! 
• Vision - How to Persuade and Argue Like a Lawyer
• Learning from Leaders -  A Case Study in Women’s Leadership
   

THE LEADERSHIP ENDORSEMENT AT STUART

The National Center for Girls’ Leadership at Stuart Leadership Endorsement is a customized and personalized opportunity for each girl to leverage her unique passion and interests towards developing authentic leadership skills.  While each girl has the freedom to guide her own experiential learning program, she does so following an organized, and clear set of experiences scaffolded in a developmentally appropriate way.  During her four years as an Upper School Leadership Endorsement candidate, she will not only practice leadership skills and learn more about a content area of her choosing, but she will learn how to take a casual interest and conduct authentic, productive academic inquiry. 

Leadership Endorsement Concentrations

• Leadership Endorsement in STEM
• Leadership Endorsement in Arts & Humanities
• Leadership Endorsement in Social Justice
• Leadership Endorsement in Business and Entrepreneurship

Leadership Endorsement Requirements (Over 3-4 Years)

• Selected courses already in curriculum will count (like a minor) - Plus 1 required Leadership course which will be offered every trimester and in the summer
• Freshman Endorsement Orientation Events  - optional (Portfolio Log)
• Sophomore Internship: A Labatut’s Learning Lab Experience (Portfolio Log)
• Junior Venture: An Independent Project (Portfolio Reflection) 
• Senior Mentorship: A connection with a Sophomore and Junior Endorsement candidate
• Service Requirement: Authentic connection and inclusion of service learning goal and the 5 Goals and Criteria (Portfolio Reflection)
• Off-site visitation, interview (Portfolio Reflection)
• Summer Beyond Stuart Experience (Portfolio Reflection)
• Off-site conference related to leadership or content area (Portfolio Reflection)
• Participation in a minimum of 3 #LLAG initiatives/events (Portfolio Reflection)

Expansion of the leadership programs at Stuart has been made possible by the Harris B. Siegel Fund for Student Leadership, established by Patricia Costante and Stephanie Champi ’12. Their generous gift was given to Stuart in gratitude for Mr. Siegel, a long-time director of college counseling.

Student Reflections

“I consider the endorsement opportunity a truly awesome experience, for it not only allows me to further my own interest in computer science but also leads to numerous interactions with other motivated students here at Stuart. I joined the endorsement as a freshman. Back then, I was pretty determined that my life-long passion lies in computer science, yet I was still not very sure how to pursue such a path. The endorsement really helped me a lot by providing detailed guidelines and potential plans for what a student might want to do in the Upper School. I remembered reading through the requirements line by line and finding matching courses to fulfill the credit needed. Earlier this academic year, I presented my junior venture project, which was a simulation of spin z-axis measurement in a three-qubit system, inspired by a quantum computing class I was taking. This is definitely a challenging experience, but also a valuable one that paves the way for any future research. Overall, I enjoyed enrolling in the Leadership in STEM endorsement a lot, and I look forward to mentoring some juniors! " - Caroline Chen '22, STEM Endorsement 

“Being a STEM Endorsement candidate has opened my eyes to new opportunities that I would never have seen. Through the endorsement, I've been able to attend scientific conferences, take classes with exceptional instructors, and conduct research in areas of my choice. I started with conferences in my freshman year, taking me across the state and even to New York; these showed me the possibilities when it came to student-led research. Fast forward to my junior year, I was able to conduct research of my own. My Junior Venture was centered around breath work and yoga--things that I thoroughly enjoy. I've even been able to apply my research in my own life, showing me the real-world benefits of research. Now, I'm able to mentor other candidates and ensure that their experience is one that they'll never forget. Overall, the program has been an incredible experience, and I'm excited to use what I've learned here at Stuart in my life after high school.” - Kelsie Bouyer '22, STEM Endorsement
 

Click here for the Service Learning Program