Torch - Fall 2015

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| FALL 2015 • TORCH 17
That’s not to say it’s not fun; for example,
Fung says her current role means she’s
gotten to know a lot of the girls much better.
“I get to talk to people I normally wouldn’t,
and this is our last year, so it means a lot,”
she says.
Although opportunities for formal
leadership are most plentiful for Grade
12 students preparing for that move into
the world beyond Havergal, these days the
school’s key mantra on the topic is that not
all leadership happens formally. “One of our
goals at Havergal is to broaden the definition
of leadership,” says Gillian Martin, Assistant
Head, Senior School.
“I think many young people—and
sometimes even many adults—get a little
narrow in their definition. ‘Everyday
leadership’ is the phrase that we use, which
is to say mentoring a younger student or
being a tutor or even stopping in the hall
and noticing that someone is in need. It’s
those everyday leadership moments that I
think schools need to be pretty deliberate
about recognizing and celebrating and
naming as leadership.”
Kate White, Assistant Head, Junior School,
recalls a specific instance that illustrates
Martin’s point. “It’s a small example, but
I think it’s really an important one,” says
White, describing a student who struggled as
a newcomer last year trying to navigate the
new environment and then, in turn, tried to
make the transition easier on someone else.
“This year, at Harvest Festival, as the children
were coming into the Brenda Robson Hall,
she went and specifically sought out one of
this year’s new students and brought her over
and asked her if she wanted to play. Then
she went and introduced her to her family.
To me, that is leadership. She wasn’t asked to
do it. She didn’t know that I happened to be
watching. It was borne out of empathy and
kindness. That student was living the values
of the school. That’s ultimately what we
want,” says White.
s one of this year’s Senior Year Presidents and last
year’s co-chairs for Havergal’s Gay-Straight Alliance,
Grade 12 student Stephanie Fung is increasingly an expert
on leadership at Havergal. A student here since Grade 5, she
laughs knowingly when asked whether students ever hear the
word “leader” floating around. “A lot!” she says. Fung even has
a ready definition: “It’s about trust and responsibility. Being
a leader takes commitment and reliability, especially when
people are depending on you.”