These are common goals in schools worldwide and are definitely worthy and meaningful goals to aspire towards. Students deserve it and the world needs it but it can be a challenge to actually find time, dedicate resources, and mentor the ever messy path of Changemaking work. Our student leader Changemakers have been over a year in the works at the Frankfurt International School and these students continue to amaze me with their drive, dedication, and resilience. COVID has certainly thrown our plans to places we never anticipated but their laser focus on creating a better world drives it forward.

Last summer some of the Changemaker leaders created a podcast about Changemaking with the support of Inspire Citizens, one of our key partners. Listen to this podcast and think about the skills and character traits being honed by this kind of opportunity. Since summer 2021 they have grown in confidence and vision even more. They have facilitated workshops at an international conference hosted from Beijing, they have run a webinar for middle school teachers and leaders around Europe, they have presented to the board of the international schools of Germany with a big idea (More to come on this), and most recently to the board at FIS to spark future thinking around where this could go.

Take a look at their poise and passion in the board presentation online in front of over 50 adults. These are the kinds of life skills that will serve them well for years to come in whatever path they should choose to take. They have been focussing on the Changemaker conference to be held March 2022 and even with the disappointment of 22 external schools not being able to attend because of COVID they have now quickly shifted to plan B with an amazing experience for FIS students across both campuses. The website found here gives more details. Watch this space for what they are already thinking for 2023 as they intend to impact schools around Europe and globally moving forward. The student workshops they are fostering and the guest speakers who will mentor and inspire our community are creating excitement building towards March 24th and 25th and our great hope is that this spark turns into a bonfire at FIS. (Words of a student Changemaker)

It’s not just about hosting an amazing conference for these student leaders. They see this as a catalyst to a systemic shift at FIS to offer these kinds of Changemaking experiences for students of all ages, not just the ones who are willing to spend all their free time. They have created a workshop handbook to help mentor students into these kinds of experiences and the, by students for students, approach is so very powerful. From a school leadership perspective we need to think about what we can let go of to provide this time to dig into authentic, passion driven, action oriented learning experiences. Sometimes the “to don’t ” list is much harder to create than the “to do” list when it comes to change in schools.

How do you provide opportunities for students to grow in their agency at your school? How can we help each other by sharing? How can we embed this agency and personalization in our schools for all ages?

More to come…