With so many separate student groups and a diverse student body, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute has devised a way to keep its pupils in the loop as to school events and activities.
The school recently launched the Lawrence Leaders, a team of young men and women comprised of members of many of the school's various groups and councils.
The project was designed to help reduce scheduling conflicts between the groups and ensure that the rest of the student body was kept up to date on the events those groups feature. With that in mind, Lawrence Leaders hopes to increase student engagement and help the school become a more inclusive environment.
While the Lawrence Leaders currently operate as a caucus of sorts, bringing student leaders together, there are already plans in the works for Lawrence Park TV, which will offer broadcasts and ticker-style listings outlining school events and other items of interest for students.
The television project will be displayed in the front hall as students enter Lawrence Park Collegiate.
School guidance counsellor Mary Amoroso said the Lawrence Leaders project arose from an ongoing issue between student groups and the scheduling conflicts that sometimes arose from having an engaged student body.
"What we discovered was that (student) groups would put on events and at times, one event would be in conflict with another," she said. "There was sometimes trouble managing that conflict."
While the situation never reached a boiling point, the conflicts often forced students to choose one event over another.
"We wanted to get more students involved," Amoroso said. "Some students are marginalized due to ethnic or socioeconomic reasons. In theory, all students are welcome (to participate in the various groups), but kids can perceive that differently."
The Lawrence Leaders program will also help students gain strong leadership skills, develop communication skills and learn to work toward positive conflict resolution.
Grade 10 student Lauren Witte recently joined the Lawrence Leaders. She said she looks forward to the opportunities the new program will create in helping foster stronger bonds between the school's committees and councils.
"It will certainly facilitate communication and help us get support from other groups and councils within the school," she said.
She added that members of the Lawrence Leaders will be offered other chances to make a difference as well. For instance, when a group of educators come from China to learn about the Canadian education system, "it will give us a chance to speak to them about the diverse councils we have here."
Fellow 10th grader and Lawrence Leader Cereise Ross said the program will allow the various councils to communicate better with the student body as a whole.
"If a student isn't aware of what's going on, they won't be able to participate," she said.
Ross added that the Lawrence Leaders program will do more than help reduce conflict between Lawrence Park's various groups. It will also allow those groups to work more efficiently.
"It's a means of communication where we can get feedback from other councils and learn more about how they work," she said.
The school is currently looking at purchasing software to run the Lawrence Park TV broadcast, which will highlight upcoming events and club meetings while also providing a rundown of recent sporting events and other school activities.
Amoroso said the television program would likely be up and running sometime this year.