Using the skills they’ve learned in class and through projects, the students of Oakdale’s Leadership Academy have changed the lives of many people in Frederick. The Academy focuses on the opportunity to learn and develop leadership skills in high school. The project gives students the skills and processes to become an effective leader over a 2 semester course.
Shrey Anderson (junior), Phoebe Kim (junior) and Mel Krajewski (senior) are students at Oakdale who have impacted the community through education. With each of them having a certain project to help with the community, Kim’s project was linking members of the community who have trouble interacting with others; Krajewski chose visiting different elementary schools to provide resources for children whose parents don’t speak English. Finally Anderson’s project was a two part project involving personal health and fitness.
Kim, a junior at Oakdale, chose two age groups that she feels relate the least: Senior citizens and Teenagers. To achieve this goal, Kim brought a group of Teenage Volunteers to a retirement home to teach them about Korean culture. In Kim’s own words, “I chose this project because I have been working on embracing my cultural identity as a Korean American and wanted to share some aspects and experiences of our traditions. I have been an active member of the Multicultural Club at Oakdale, which also gave me a lot of inspiration and passion for the cultural aspect of my project.”
When asked how the project made her a better overall leader she said, “My project helped me with my communication skills, organizing things on my own isn’t something I was experienced with”.
She faced challenges that were overcome through collaboration and communication. “It was hard because I had a lot of ideas, but I also had to work with the people that were helping me out with my plans, so there’s definitely a big emphasis on communication.” In the end, Kim’s project ended up having a strong influence on the senior citizens.
Krajewski, Senior at Oakdale, decided to help Spanish families get resources to help build their kids phonological awareness skills.“My focus was on helping kids learn and their ability to read because it’s important for their development.” Krajewski wanted to help improve the kids’ reading and writing skills.
Krajewski worked hard to achieve her goal, she explained, “I started reaching out to local bookshops while working with the Frederick literacy council. So, work with them, collect resources, provide the resources, getting books,handing out info ,going to the market days, and learning from each market day.” Krajewski’s inspiration was Gandhi because he prioritizes his followers over himself and this inspired her to help people.
Anderson, Junior at Oakdale, created a two-part project, training people how to workout safely. Anderson decided to focus on two groups, the Frederick Housing Authority working with kids and The Frederick Rescue Mission working with recovering addicts; he taught people at both of these organizations how to safely exercise.
When asked how his project helped people, Anderson explained how on a recent trip to the Frederick Rescue mission, he saw Martin, a guy he worked with during his project. “He’s diabetic and he was talking about how his blood sugar levels have become more regular. He’s lost weight and feels a lot better.”
Through Anderson’s project, Martin became healthier and more self confident. Anderson also expanded upon how his project helped him grow in a recent interview, “I’ve always kind of struggled to talk to groups of people.It made me more familiar with talking to people I don’t know and explaining things to them.” Anderson developed better communication skills allowing him to grow as a leader.
Not only did these projects help others but they helped the creators as well. Ms.Malagari quotes, “The impact of student projects often surprises me, especially when organizations reach out requesting collaboration opportunities year after year.” Hopefully these leaders keep growing and helping others in the community.
