In The Driver’s Seat: Senior Leader Spotlight

Each year, freshmen enter Deerfield High School being a little scared, confused, and in need of guidance. Of course, guidance comes from many sources: teachers, parents and friends. However, at DHS, sometimes it’s best to go to those who have been in high school for the longest time: seniors. Many seniors train and devote their time to becoming leaders, advisors, or teachers, all to see underclassmen smile, whether it’s by teaching them how to swim, seeing their eyes light up as they understand a concept in class, or have fun showing their talents in a fine arts advisory class. Six of these hardworking seniors described what they found so enticing about being a senior leader, advisor or teacher. They also discussed what they’ve learned from it, and who they’ve helped.

 

SENIOR TEACHERS

 

Becoming a senior teacher requires years of training, which includes building a relationship with the teacher you want to teach with, knowing the material, and demonstrating the ability to help others in a classroom setting. Senior teachers are loved and appreciated for their abilities to help students inside the class, such as when the teacher is out of school for the day, and outside, as many hold study sessions for anyone needing extra time with the material. Being a senior teacher isn’t just a learning experience for the students; it’s incredibly helpful to the seniors who are able to build these relationships with their pupils and reconnect with their own freshman year experiences.

Two seniors shared their experiences regarding their work in the classroom: Kate Baddeley, who senior teaches for Mr. Lavin’s Honors World History class, and David Zhao, who senior teaches for Mr. Motzko’s Honors Biology class.

“Being able to have study sessions with my kids outside of class and being able to communicate with them about freshman year… it’s made it a lot easier for me to remember what it’s like to be in their shoes and it’s given me a lot of perspective about what high school has taught me,” Baddeley said.

Relationships with the students are not just limited to topics regarding the course– personal relationships are built with them, as senior teachers often find a newfound appreciation for their pupils.

“I love the kids who are in my class; they’re all incredibly bright and talented and funny, they make me laugh on a daily basis,” Baddeley said.

Senior teaching is not only fun for the senior teachers due to its building of relationships with the underclassmen; it’s also incredibly fulfilling to know that what they have done makes a difference in the academic future of the students who they are helping.

“I really do like helping [the students], especially when you see that spark of understanding in their eye … you can see [the students] grow and see their development as well,” said David Zhao, who is a senior teacher for Mr. Motzko’s Honors Biology class.

And even when removing the students from the equation, the teacher-senior teacher dynamic is crucial, and experiencing the class once again can present a wealth of new information to the senior teachers.

“[Mr. Lavin] taught me a lot of the life lessons he teaches in Honors World History; it’s partially history but also a lot of wisdom and things you need in high school, and things I will use going forward… to get to relive [Mr. Lavin’s teaching] in a pivotal moment in my life is important,” Baddeley said.

Senior teaching is more than meets the eye, with layered dynamics between students, seniors and teachers, and it’s an educational experience for all involved. This, of course, makes it a unique experience– this can be shown by how different senior teaching is just depending on the subject and teacher– and being able to “choose one’s own adventure” will be forever appealing for the ranks of seniors at DHS for years to come.

SENIOR PE LEADERS

After two years of PE and a particularly rigorous year of training as juniors, the now-seniors are finally ready to lead students of all ages in their PE classes, making sure their students are staying on task while also ensuring that their PE students are enjoying the sports or games they’re taking part in.

Senior gym leaders do more than take attendance and make sure everything’s running smoothly; they take pride in what they do and make sure their students are happy. Rachel Ludwig and Josh Riskind described to me their wide-ranging experiences regarding their senior leadership.

“I love that feeling you get after you help someone or make a kid smile; I just love giving advice and it’s a lot of fun when someone looks up to you,” Ludwig said.

Having the role of a gym leader also translates into lots of time spent with the gym teacher– mainly discussing what the leaders will be teaching or showing– and learning how to work with all different kinds of students, some more enthusiastic than others. It can be challenging to find a balance, especially in larger freshman and sophomore classes, but the teachers are there to help.

“[My teacher] taught me how to take good initiative, deal with kids who might not want to participate in the sport that you’re doing, and just to work with all different kinds of kids,” Ludwig said.  

PE is about more than improving one’s health and learning about sports; for underclassmen, it’s about building relationships with classmates of theirs who they otherwise may not have talked to. Unifying these students by showing enthusiasm and happiness is important on a daily basis for the leaders.

“Mrs. Lempa [who teaches the senior leaders training class for juniors] taught me that the way I come to class and the way my attitude is directed towards whatever we’re doing affects the students; if I come in with a smile on my face most of the students will be having fun,” Riskind said.

While being a senior PE leader seems easy on the surface, there is plenty of balancing to be done. The gym leaders who truly enjoy what they’re doing will make their students even better underclassmen than they otherwise would be, by uniting them with their classmates, keeping them focused and making sure that they are able to improve their physical selves little by little every day.

 

SENIOR ADVISORS

Senior advisors are probably the most unique of all of the senior leadership roles because they assist their freshman in with every aspect of their transition to high school. They not only help them succeed in academics or athletics, but with everyday conflicts and decisions. And while there are five different varieties of senior advisories there are as many varieties of advisors: standard advisory, chorus advisory, band advisory, theatre advisory and orchestra advisory. Regardless of their advisory, their goal is the same: to get freshman acclimated well with everything that Deerfield High School has to offer, and to provide guidance as they encounter any bumps along the way. Advisors, unlike leaders and teachers, don’t have the primary goal of teaching: they have the primary goal of setting a good example and making sure their students are adjusted to DHS.

Additionally, many seniors chose to become advisors because of the positive impact their own senior advisors had upon them when they were freshmen. Jordyn Cohen, who senior teaches for Mr. Hirsch’s theatre advisory, is one of these advisors.

“When I was a freshman, I had a lot of seniors who were there to guide me and help me; they helped introduce me to things that I ended up loving and getting really involved in, and I wanted to pay it forward and help this year’s freshman with the same thing seniors helped me with,” Cohen said.

Senior advising is not just beneficial for the students; the advisors sometimes are trying out new things their senior year, such as Megan Garrett, who has been in band throughout high school, but is now an orchestra advisor. Advising has been a learning experience for Garrett, who adds that her freshmen have helped her learn about orchestra along the way.

“I’ve learned a lot about orchestra… and playing in an orchestra; musical things I wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise,” said Garrett.

Being a senior advisor is strenuous due to the time it takes, as often, senior advisors like to check in with their freshmen outside of class, and competitive to get into, as only two-thirds of this year’s juniors who applied were accepted for next year’s advisor program. Once the job is acquired, though, it’s incredibly fulfilling, and both senior advisors interviewed explained to me that you control your own experience as an advisor, and however much fun you have is decided by what you chose to make of the experience. Both advisors described what advice they would like to pass on to future senior advisors.

“I would say be yourself; try to use what you’ve learned as a tool in communicating with the freshman; your experiences are the best things you have as tool,” Garrett said.

Cohen had a slightly different but equally helpful opinion, speaking more about the experience being a senior teacher as opposed to Garrett’s view about using past experiences.
“I would say just really invest in what you’re doing, get to know your freshmen, get to know your co-advisors and the teacher you’re working with; make the most of it, make a lot of connections with the freshmen, have fun,” Cohen said.